Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday rejected a tweet by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani regarding alleged violence against protesters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, and called the "irresponsible" statement a "gross interference." The foreign minister, who is in London, took to Twitter and said: "We reject the tweet by President Ashraf Ghani. Such irresponsible statements are only gross interference. Afghan leadership needs to focus on longstanding serious grievances of the Afghan people."

The tweet came hours after the Afghan President Ahsraf Ghani said that the Afghan government had "serious concerns about the violence perpetrated against peaceful protesters and civil activists" in the two provinces. In a subsequent tweet, Ghani said: "We believe it is the moral responsibility of every government to support civil activities that take a stand against terrorism and extremism that plague and threaten our region and collective security. Otherwise there could be longstanding negative consequences."

The Afghan president appeared to be referring to a sit-in of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) in Loralai on Saturday during which PTM leader Arman Loni died. A shutter down strike in Quetta was observed on Monday following Loni's death, which the PTM claimed was a murder. Later on Tuesday, during a protest outside National Press Club Islamabad called over Loni's death, rights activist Gulalai Ismail and 17 others associated with the PTM were detained by the capital police. Ismail was released on Wednesday night.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019