The Foreign Office (FO) confirmed on Thursday that Pakistan had carried out an intelligence operation in Afghanistan based on “threats to the security of Pakistani citizens”.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained due to frequent border skirmishes as Islamabad repeatedly demanded Kabul take action against the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul denies the accusations.
The FO spokesperson’s statement, the government’s first formal word on the matter, comes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in the neighboring country on Tuesday, which security officials said targeted several suspected terrorists.
Pakistani security officials said late Tuesday that fighter jets bombed four locations, believed to be TTP camps, in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, targeting and neutralizing several suspected terrorists.
The Afghan Taliban regime subsequently lodged a strong protest with Islamabad over an airstrike, warning that Afghanistan’s territorial sovereignty was a red line for the ruling Islamic Emirate.
Responding to questions during a press conference in Islamabad today, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed: “Pakistan is united by its people. Pakistan carried out an operation in the border areas of Afghanistan.
“The operation based on intelligence information was carried out by Pakistan in the border areas of Afghanistan,” Zahra said, adding that it was carried out “on the basis of threats to the security of Pakistani citizens.”
The official stressed that Pakistan “has always prioritized dialogue on issues related to ties with Afghanistan.”
“We respect the integrity and sovereignty of Afghanistan,” he said.
More to follow
