Islamabad: Pakistan, on Tuesday, urged the Taliban to take measures against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists, Dawn reported.

Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during a visit to Peshawar, where he met citizens injured in a blast in Bajaur on Sunday, said: “The Taliban should undertake concrete measures towards denying the use of its soil for transnational terrorism.”

He also expressed concern over the “involvement of Afghan citizens in suicide blasts and the liberty of action available to elements hostile to Pakistan in planning and executing such cowardly attacks on innocent civilians from the sanctuaries across the border”, as per Dawn.

The explosion on Sunday was the result of a suicide attack and ripped through a Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl convention in Bajaur’s Khar, leaving 54 dead and over 80 injured. The proscribed Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

PM Shehbaz was during his visit to Peshawar briefed about the overall security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a focus on Sunday’s blast and the status of the investigation of the incident.

He was further apprised of counter-terrorism efforts being undertaken to “dismantle the terrorists’ network by disrupting the linkages between planners, executioners and abettors”.

The premier was also accompanied by Pakistan Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir.

Following the briefing, the premier appreciated the emergency efforts undertaken by the army in the evacuation of wounded personnel from Khar to Peshawar.