SHAFAQNA – Afghanistan’s national-security adviser said Monday 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.
The South Asian region, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, had the “highest concentration of organized terrorists anywhere in the world,” Hanif Atmar said. He noted that 20 out of 98 groups designated by the U.S. as terrorist organizations were operating in the region.
India’s Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said a global response to countering terrorism must come from Asia, since “Asians being subjected to the terrorist violence carried out by four out of five deadliest terror outfits in the world.”