ISLAMABAD (National Times) In view of rising cross border attacks, Pakistan on Sunday urged Kabul to secure the Pak-Afghan border region and take stern action against the individuals involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan, in the interest of peace and progress of the two brotherly countries.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar noted that incidents of terrorist attacks along the Pak-Afghan Border have significantly increased in the last few days, adding that Pakistani security forces are being targeted from across the border.<\/p>\n
He maintained that Pakistan has repeatedly requested the Afghan government in the last few months to take notice of the attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cTerrorists are using Afghan soil with impunity to carry out activities inside Pakistan,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said that Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged for the past several months through institutional channels for effective coordination and security along their long shared border.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, elements of banned terrorist groups in the border region, including TTP, have continued to attack Pakistan’s border security posts, resulting into martyrdom of several Pakistani troops,\u201d said Asim Iftikhar.<\/p>\n
On 14 April 2022 as well, seven Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in North Waziristan District by terrorists operating from Afghanistan, he added.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson, once again, strongly condemned terrorists operating with impunity from Afghan soil to carry out activities in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
He maintained that this is detrimental to their efforts of maintaining peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border.<\/p>\n
Reaffirming respect for Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, the spokesperson said Islamabad will continue to work closely with the Afghan government to strengthen bilateral relations in all fields.<\/p>\n
FO reacts to reports of \u2018action\u2019 by Pakistan in Afghanistan
\nA day earlier, the FO had said it was \u201clooking into\u201d reports of alleged action by Pakistani forces in the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Khost.<\/p>\n
The FO\u2019s response was to claims made by an Afghan government official and a resident in Kunar province that Pakistani forces fired rockets early Saturday, leaving six people dead, The News reported. <\/p>\n
\u201cFive children and a woman were killed and a man wounded,\u201d provincial director of information Najibullah Hassan Abdaal alleged. Ehsanullah, a resident of Shelton district where the alleged attack reportedly took place, said it was carried out by Pakistani military aircraft. Ehsanullah goes by one name as many Afghans do.<\/p>\n
Another Afghan government official had alleged that a pre-dawn bombardment was carried out in Afghanistan\u2019s Khost province near the border with Pakistan. The official, on condition of anonymity, alleged that \u201cPakistani helicopters bombarded four villages\u201d in Khost, adding that \u201cthere were casualties\u201d. An Afghan tribal elder from Khost, Gul Markhan, had also spoke to the AFP regarding the incident in Khost.<\/p>\n
Also Saturday, an Afghan Foreign Ministry statement said Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Deputy Defence Minister Mullah Shirin Akhund met with the Pakistani ambassador and condemned the recent attacks on Khost and Kunar provinces, stressing prevention of such acts. \u201cMinister Muttaqi said all military violations, including that in Khost and Kunar must be prevented as such acts deteriorate relations between the two countries, allowing antagonists to misuse the situation leading to undesired consequences,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
It added the Pakistani envoy was given a strong demarche. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also condemned the alleged attacks. \u201cIEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) calls on the Pakistani side not to test the patience of Afghans on such issues.\u201d He added: \u201cProblems between the two countries must be resolved through political means.\u201d<\/p>\n
MNA Mohsin Dawar had also raised the issue in Saturday\u2019s National Assembly session, terming the reported incident as a \u201chighly tragic one\u201d. He had claimed that the alleged victims were internally displaced persons from North Waziristan who had crossed into Afghanistan before the start of Zarb-i-Azab.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Pakistan Army had said terrorists ambushed a military convoy near the Pak-Afghan border in the general area of Isham, North Waziristan District, martyring seven Pakistani security men. \u201cOwn troops initiated a prompt response, effectively engaged and killed four terrorists. However, during an intense exchange of fire, seven soldiers embraced Shahadat,\u201d the ISPR had said. Pakistan has long been saying that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan has been using Afghan soil for attacks on Pakistani border posts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD (National Times) In view of rising cross border attacks, Pakistan on Sunday urged Kabul to secure the Pak-Afghan border region and take stern action against the individuals involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan, in the interest of peace and progress of the two brotherly countries. In a statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar noted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n