ISLAMABAD: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Pakistan on Tuesday any recognition of the new government in Afghanistan should happen on an international, not unilateral basis.
He made the statement during a phone call with Prime Minister Imran Khan wherein the two leaders also agreed to remain in touch to discuss the changing situation in Afghanistan.
The Taliban captured Kabul on Sunday without a fight, after taking over Afghanistan city by city in the last two weeks.
Pakistan’s information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain already announced earlier in the day that his country would consult regional and international powers before making a decision on recognizing Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
“It has to be a regional decision, it has to be with consultation of regional and international powers,” Hussain said at a press conference in Islamabad. “We don’t want to take a unilateral decision on that, we are in touch with our regional and international friends and we will decide accordingly.”
Hussain’s statement came a day after Pakistan’s National Security Committee met to discuss the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
The insurgent group has since announced an “amnesty” across the country and urged women to join its government, trying to calm nerves across the country.
On Tuesday, a senior official of the group ordered fighters to maintain discipline and not enter any diplomatic buildings or interfere with embassy vehicles, and allow ordinary people to go about their business as usual.
In separate comments, Pakistani interior minister Sheikh Rashid said Islamabad had also raised concerns with the Afghan Taliban over the release of members of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The TTP, or Pakistani Taliban, is separate but allied to the Afghan Taliban. As the Afghan Taliban overran cities last week, reports surfaced that many TTP prisoners had also been released from Afghan prisons, including former TTP deputy chief Maulana Faqir Mohammad.
“The outlawed TTP and Daesh militants are present in the mountainous ranges of Nooristan and Nighar,” Rashid had told the Afghan Taliban, as quoted by Geo. “We have taken the Taliban on-board over the TTP issue and told them that Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used against Afghanistan and hope Afghanistan won’t allow its soil to be used against Pakistan.”
Britain urges Pakistan not to unilaterally decide on recognizing Taliban rule in Afghanistan
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Britain urges Pakistan not to unilaterally decide on recognizing Taliban rule in Afghanistan
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the statement during a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart
- Pakistan’s information minister had already said recognizing the Taliban would be a regional, international decision
At least 13 civilians killed in Pakistan strikes in Afghanistan, UN says
- Pakistan said it launched the strikes after blaming recent suicide attacks on militants operating from Afghan territory
- The reported toll adds to fears of a renewed cycle of retaliation between the neighbors, threatening a fragile ceasefire
ISLAMABAD/KABUL: At least 13 civilians were killed and seven injured in Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Monday, as cross-border tensions escalated following a string of suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The reported toll adds to fears of a renewed cycle of retaliation between the neighbors, threatening a fragile ceasefire along their 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier and further straining ties as both sides trade blame over militant violence.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it had received “credible reports” that overnight Pakistani airstrikes on February 21–22 killed at least 13 civilians and injured seven in the Behsud and Khogyani districts of Nangarhar province.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid earlier reported dozens killed or wounded in the strikes, which also hit locations in Paktika province. Reuters could not independently verify the reported toll.
Pakistan said it launched the strikes after blaming recent suicide attacks, including during Ramadan, on militants operating from Afghan territory.
Pakistan’s information ministry in a post on X said the “intelligence-based” operation struck seven camps of the Pakistani Taliban and Daesh (Islamic State) Khorasan Province and that it had “conclusive evidence” the militant assaults on Pakistan were directed by “Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.”
Kabul has repeatedly denied allowing militants to use Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan.
The strikes took place days after Kabul released three Pakistani soldiers in a Saudi-mediated exchange aimed at easing months of tensions along the border.
Afghanistan’s defense ministry condemned the strikes and called them a violation of sovereignty and international law, saying an “appropriate and measured response will be taken at a suitable time.” The Afghan foreign ministry said it had summoned Pakistan’s ambassador.
In a statement on the February 21-22 strikes, Afghanistan’s education ministry said eight school students; five boys and three girls, were killed in Behsud in Nangarhar province, and one madrasa student injured in Barmal in Paktika province, adding that dozens of other civilians were killed or wounded and educational centers destroyed. Reuters could not independently verify the information.
The latest strikes follow months of clashes and repeated border closures that have disrupted trade and movement along the rugged frontier.
