Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it had summoned the head of Pakistan’s mission in Kabul to hold a formal protest over attacks carried out by Pakistani forces a day earlier.
Pakistani security officials said late Tuesday that fighter jets bombed four locations, believed to be camps of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, targeting and neutralizing several suspected terrorists. . The government has not yet issued an official statement on the strikes. dawn.com has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained due to frequent border skirmishes as Islamabad repeatedly demanded Kabul take action against the TTP for using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul denies the accusations.
Sources said TTP camps in Murgha and Laman areas of Bernal district were attacked, including one that was used by Sher Zaman alias Mukhlis Yar, Major Abu Hamza, Major Akhtar Muhammad and media arm chief from TTP, Umar Media.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid while speaking with dawn.com On Wednesday, it said 46 people were killed in the attacks, including “locals and some displaced Pakistanis from the tribal regions of Waziristan, who had been living in camps in the border areas of Afghanistan.” He said Shin Stargi Adda, Sorzaghmi, Almasti and Marghai areas in Paktika province were shelled.
The attacks came on the same day that a Pakistani delegation, led by Special Representative Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, met Acting Interior Minister Sirajudddin Haqqani and Foreign Minister Amir Muttaqi in Kabul to resume diplomatic dialogue after of a one-year break.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Chargé d’Affaires of the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul on Wednesday afternoon and handed him a formal note of protest over the shelling “near the Durand Line in the Bermal district.” of Paktika province”.
The ministry, in its statement, said the “violation” was condemned and alleged that the move was “an attempt by certain Pakistani factions to create mistrust between the two countries” while the two sides held talks.
Reuters quoted a senior Pakistani security official as saying that the attacks were against “terrorist hideouts” using planes and drones and that they killed at least 20 TTP terrorists.
“Arguments by Afghan officials that civilians are being harmed are baseless and misleading,” the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In a post on
Earlier this month, Pakistan decided to reappoint Ambassador Sadiq as its special representative to Afghanistan. Although no official announcement was made in this regard, the appointment was confirmed by a source familiar with the development, according to Sunrise.
The appointment came amid reports that the Afghan Taliban had begun relocating TTP members and their families away from the border in Ghazni, their new abode to ease tensions with Pakistan.
Days later, on December 10, Afghan chargé d’affaires Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb and deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar also met in Islamabad, where the two discussed the “deep-rooted ties” between their nations.
The Ministry of External Affairs said on December 13 that the recent engagements with Afghanistan underlined Pakistan’s desire to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had said, in a weekly press briefing, that the recent meetings were “an expression of Pakistan’s interest in dialogue to resolve any issues that arise from time to time and to find “constructive approaches and solutions to problems, including problems of serious concern to Pakistan.”
The back-to-back meetings had given the impression that the two sides were preparing to renew engagement after a period of tension caused by Pakistani accusations that the TTP was allowed sanctuaries on Afghan soil.
Baloch had said earlier this month that counterterrorism was at the top of the bilateral agenda.
Past climbs
In March, the FO confirmed that Pakistan had carried out “intelligence-based counter-terrorism operations” inside Afghanistan’s border regions, hours after Kabul said airstrikes on its territory had killed eight people.
FO said that the main targets of the operation carried out today morning were terrorists belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, adding that the group, along with the TTP, was responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, which resulted in “ the death of hundreds of people.” civilians and law enforcement officials.
The last such attack took place on March 17 at a security post in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, claiming the lives of seven Pakistani soldiers.
In July, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said bbc In an interview, Pakistan “will continue to launch attacks against Afghanistan as part of a new military operation aimed at fighting terrorism.”
“It is true that we have been conducting operations in Afghanistan and will continue to do so. We will not serve them with cakes and pastries. If they attack us, we will fight back,” Asif had told the outlet.
Additional contributions from Reuters
