The Afghan Taliban have categorically denied CIA chief Mike Pompeo’s claim that the American-Canadian couple were held hostage inside Pakistan for five years before being freed last week.“They were not on Pakistan’s soil but in Paktia [province of] Afghanistan,” Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid told The Express Tribune in an exclusive email interview.He added that only a few days before their rescue, the hostage family was transferred via the [Pak-Afghan] border area to Kunar province.American Caitlin Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, who had been kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, were rescued by Pakistan Army last week.According to the military’s media wing, the ISPR, the rescue took place in Kurram Agency on a tip-off from US intelligence agencies that had been tracking the hostages’ movement.Meanwhile, Afghan defence ministry spokesperson General Dawlat Waziri told Tolo News that “most of those who are kidnapped in Afghanistan – foreigners in particular – are held as hostages in the neighbouring country.”The successfully rescue by Pakistan Army won a rare praise from US President Donald Trump who said the release of the hostage family from the Haqqani network “is an indication of a better working relationship with Pakistan”.This perhaps didn’t go down well with some elements in Afghanistan, especially those known for their anti-Pakistan views.The Taliban statement came amid an upsurge in violence in Afghanistan. The insurgent group said the string of attacks on Afghan security forces was to avenge the “751 bombs dropped by the US forces” during their latest air blitz.According to Afghanistan’s Tolo News, the interior ministry released a statement saying the Afghan forces and coalition forces killed 30 insurgents belonging to the Haqqani network in a joint operation in the Gelen district of Paktia province.The Taliban warned that they would continue such attacks until the US-led foreign forces pulled out of Afghanistan. The Trump administration is pushing for a military victory for its longest, costliest and deadliest war in the country.At least 75 people, mostly Afghan security personnel, were killed on Tuesday and Wednesday when the Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks across Afghanistan, targeting police compounds and government facilities with suicide bombers in the country’s south, east and west.On Friday, more than 60 worshippers were killed and dozens wounded in two separate attacks on Imambargahs in Kabul and Ghur city, though the Taliban didn’t claim responsibility for the deadly assaults.Pakistan’s Foreign Office, while condemning the horrific suicide attacks on Imambargahs, said that the Pakistanis “stand in solidarity with the Afghan government” and those who have suffered the ordeal.“We convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and pray for the early recovery of the injured,” reads a statement from the Foreign Office.“Pakistan reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reaffirms its commitment for unrelenting efforts for eliminating this menace.”