ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) said that Pakistani forces conduct “operations in border areas to protect the people of Pakistan from terrorist groups”, a day after the Taliban administration accused the country of carrying out an airstrike on its territory.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained due to frequent border skirmishes and Islamabad repeatedly demanding Kabul to take action against the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul denies the allegations.
The FO spokesperson’s statement — the first formal word by the government on the matter — comes after Pakistan carried out air strikes in the neighbouring country on Tuesday, which security officials said targeted several suspected terrorists.
Pakistan’s security officials late on Tuesday night had said that fighter jets bombed four locations, said to be TTP camps, in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, targeting and neutralising several suspected terrorists.
Subsequently, the Afghan Taliban regime lodged a strong protest with Islamabad over an airstrike, warning that Afghanistan’s territorial sovereignty was the red line for the ruling Islamic Emirate.
In a written statement issued in response to a Dawn.com query, the FO said: “Our security and law enforcement personnel conduct operations in border areas to protect the people of Pakistan from terrorist groups. These counterterrorism operations are carefully selected and based on accurate intelligence.”
The official stressed that Pakistan had “always prioritised dialogue in matters relating to ties with Afghanistan”.“We respect Afghanistan’s integrity and sovereignty,” she asserted.Stating that protecting its citizens was Pakistan’s top priority, the FO spokesperson reiterated that there were “threats posed by terrorist elements to Pakistan and its citizens”.
“Pakistan is committed to the security of its public,” Baloch said.Baloch added that Special Representative Sadiq Khan met several Afghan officials in Kabul and that the two countries remain in touch to “discuss security, border management, trade and many other issues”.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson emphasised that social media messages “coming from terrorists” cannot be believed.“We do not communicate with other countries through the media,” she said. “Pakistan has clear communication channels with the Afghan administration. We have been in continuous contact with Afghanistan for the last two days.”
