Associating terrorism with Islam inappropriate, says Afghan security adviser

Afghanistan’s national security adviser says associating terrorism with Islam is inappropriate given the suffering Muslims have endured at the hands of terrorists and the sacrifices they have made to defeat such violence.

Afghanistan’s national security adviser on Monday said that associating terrorism with Islam was inappropriate given the suffering Muslims have endured at the hands of terrorists and the sacrifices they have made to defeat such violence.

A recent suicide bombing in Kabul killed at least 15 people and injured several dozens. (AP File)

The South Asian region, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, had the “highest concentration of organised terrorists anywhere in the world,” said Hanif Atmar at the Asian Security Conference, being held this year in New Delhi.

He noted that 20 out of 98 groups designated by the US as terrorist organisations were operating in the region.

Afghanistan has lost 10,500 people to terrorism over the last 14 months, with an average of 28 people dying each day, he said.

“It is inappropriate to associate terrorism with Islam, because it fails to understand, to appreciate, the sacrifices that the Muslims are making in order to defeat terrorism, and the suffering that the Muslims have had at the hands of the terrorists,” he told participants.