Kabul Refuses To Send Captured Islamic State Leader To Pakistan
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — Afghanistan’s government says it will not hand over a captured Islamic State (IS) militant leader to Pakistan because there is no formal extradition treaty between Kabul and Islamabad.
The Afghan government announced its position on April 10, a day after Pakistan called for Afghanistan to hand over Aslam Farooqi — the captured leader of an IS affiliate in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the request had been made during a meeting with Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan on April 9.
During the meeting, the Afghan envoy was told that Farooqi “should be handed-over to Pakistan for further investigations” because he was involved in “anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan,” the ministry said.
The statement said that the two countries “should coordinate actions against the menace of terrorism.”
Afghan officials say Farooqi, whose real name is Abdullah Orakzai, was arrested in the Kandahar Province on April 4.
He has been a leader of the IS affiliate in Afghanistan since July 2019.
