Hours after Kabul said Pakistani airstrikes conducted on its soil had killed eight people, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) on Monday confirmed that Pakistan carried out “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” inside the border regions of Afghanistan.
The Afghan defence ministry said that “in response to that aggression, the border forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan targeted military bases of Pakistan’s army across the artificial Durand Line with heavy weapons.”
A Pakistan foreign office press release said the main targets of the early Monday morning operation were terrorists belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, which, along with the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, resulting in “deaths of hundreds of civilians and law enforcement officials”.
This included an attack on a security post in Mir Ali in North Waziristan on Saturday, which claimed the lives of seven Pakistani soldiers, including two officers, it said. At a funeral service for the two officers, newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari had pledged retaliation, saying that the blood of the martyrs would not go in vain and the country would avenge them.
The Hafiz Gul Bahadar group had claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in North Waziristan. Pakistan officials say the group operates from the Afghan side of the border, mostly from Khost.
“Pakistan has repeatedly conveyed its serious concerns to the interim Afghan government over the presence of terror outfits, including TTP, inside Afghanistan. These terrorists pose a grave threat to Pakistan’s security and have consistently used Afghan territory to launch terror attacks inside Pakistani territory,” it said.
“We have repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities to take concrete and effective action to ensure that the Afghan soil is not used as a staging ground for terrorism against Pakistan. We have also called on them to deny safe havens to TTP and to hand over its leadership to Pakistan.
“Pakistan has avenged the blood of martyrs and targeted the safe havens of terrorists near the border,” said Jan Achakzai, former caretaker information minister of Balochistan. In a post on X, he said, “If there is any terror attack in Pakistan, we will conduct a strong attack inside Afghanistan. Remember, the life of a Pakistani is more valuable for us than the entire Afghanistan.”
The Pakistani army was “fighting the evil forces of terror originating from Afghanistan”. “This cowardly terror attack will be avenged,” added former caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani.
Prayers for officers and Jawans of our Army who embraced shahadat in North Waziristan, fighting the evil forces of terror originating from Afghanistan. This cowardly terror attack will be avenged. The nation stands behind our brave soldiers
— Jalil Abbas Jilani (@JalilJilani) March 18, 2024
Earlier, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that “around 3am, Pakistani aircraft bombarded civilian homes” in Khost and Paktika provinces, and all eight people killed were women and children.
“The Pakistani side is saying that [militant] Abdullah Shah was targeted in the strikes but he lives on the Pakistani side. Members of the same tribe live on both sides and routinely move across the border,” he said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns the attacks and describes these as non-serious actions and violation of Afghanistani territory. Pakistan should not blame Afghanistan for their problems and failure to control violent incidents. Such acts can lead to dire consequences which will not be in control of Pakistan.”
A statement posted later by the Afghan foreign ministry said it had summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires and also sent him a letter of protest. “Besides condemning the attacks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs Pakistan that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has a long experience of fighting for freedom against the superpowers of the world and cannot tolerate aggression on its territory in any way.
“The country’s defence and security forces are ready to respond to any kind of aggression and will defend the country’s territorial integrity in any situation,” it asserted.
The statement, issued with a photo of Afghan Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob, said Pakistani fighter jets and drones entered Afghanistan airspace and bombed “houses of civilians in an act of aggression”.
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