ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military hit back at mounting criticism of its long campaign against militancy and stressed its support for upcoming elections in a major public relations offensive on Monday.
The push comes one day after a rights group clashed with Taliban-linked militants in the country’s northwest, sparking fresh claims the military was backing proxy forces based in Pakistan that are fighting in Afghanistan.
Sunday’s fight between activists from the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) and militants during a rally Sunday left at least two dead and dozens injured on the Afghan border, according to a local official.
PTM has been calling for investigations into disappearances and extrajudicial killings by Pakistan’s security establishment, while also echoing accusations that the military allowed extremists a safe haven from which to launch attacks in Afghanistan.
But in a wide-ranging press conference, chief military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor slammed accusations that the country was harboring militants and accused PTM of being manipulated by “enemies of Pakistan.”
He went on to defend the conduct of Pakistan’s fight against insurgents, noting that thousands had lost their lives in the country’s battle against extremism.
“War is a cruel action and not a fair game, more than 70,000 Pakistanis and 16,000 soldiers have been killed and wounded in this war,” said Ghafoor during a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Ghafoor was also at pains to emphasize the military’s support for elections set in July, as tensions mount following the ousting of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court on corruption charges last year.
Since being removed from power, Sharif has become increasingly confrontational with the military, repeatedly accusing them of unfairly targeting him and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party.
Ghafoor said the military stood by Pakistan’s political development ahead of what is likely to be only the second democratic transfer of power in the nation’s 70-year history.
“There is nobody else happier than the army over the completion of parliament and government’s tenure,” Ghafoor said.
Pakistan has been under direct military rule for almost half of its existence, with at least 15 heads of states deposed before completing their term, often at the behest of the country’s powerful armed forces.
Pakistan military hits back at criticism as elections loom
Pakistan military hits back at criticism as elections loom
- Since being removed from power, former premier Nawaz Sharif has been increasingly confrontational with the military, repeatedly accusing them of unfairly targeting him and his party
- “There is nobody else happier than the army over the completion of parliament and government’s tenure,” chief military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said
US border agent shoots and wounds two people in Portland
- The Portland shooting unfolded Thursday afternoon as US Border Patrol agents were conducting a targeted vehicle stop, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement
A US immigration agent shot and wounded a man and a woman in Portland, Oregon, authorities said on Thursday, leading local officials to call for calm given public outrage over the ICE shooting death of a Minnesota woman a day earlier.
“We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more,” Portland police chief Bob Day said in a statement.
The Portland shooting unfolded Thursday afternoon as US Border Patrol agents were conducting a targeted vehicle stop, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The statement said the driver, a suspected Venezuelan gang member, attempted to “weaponize” his vehicle and run over the agents. In response, DHS said, “an agent fired a defensive shot” and the driver and a passenger drove away.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the circumstances of the incident.
Portland police said that the shooting took place near a medical clinic in eastern Portland. Six minutes after arriving at the scene and determining federal agents were involved in the shooting, police were informed that two people with gunshot wounds — a man and a woman — were asking for help at a location about 2 miles (3 km) to the northeast of the medical clinic.
Police said they applied tourniquets to the man and woman, who were taken to a hospital. Their condition was unknown.
The shooting came just a day after a federal agent from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a separate agency within the Department of Homeland Security, fatally shot a 37-year-old mother of three in her car in Minneapolis.
That shooting has prompted two days of protests in Minneapolis. Officers from both ICE and Border Patrol have been deployed in cities across the United States as part of Republican President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
While the aggressive enforcement operations have been cheered by the president’s supporters, Democrats and civil rights activists have decried the posture as an unnecessary provocation.
US officials contend criminal suspects and anti-Trump activists have increasingly used their cars as weapons, though video evidence has sometimes contradicted their claims.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement his city was now grappling with violence at the hands of federal agents and that “we cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts.”
He called on ICE to halt all its operations in the city until an investigation can be completed.
“Federal militarization undermines effective, community-based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region,” Wilson said. “I will use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”
