ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States (US) on Tuesday called for the Taliban to fulfill “terrorism commitments,” as a Pakistani soldier was killed in a militant attack closed to Afghanistan’s border.
The statement came after a meeting between US special representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, and Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and State Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in New York.
The meeting, also attended by US special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights Rina Amiri, took place on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“Discussed our shared desire to support robust response to humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan, deep concerns about violations of Afghans’ fundamental freedoms, and desire for the Taliban to fulfill terrorism commitments,” West said on Twitter.
The development coincided with the killing of a Pakistan Army soldier, in what the Pakistani military said was a militant attack “from inside Afghanistan across the international border” in the northwestern Pakistani district of North Waziristan.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that the interim Afghan government will not allow conduct of such activities in future,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said in a statement.
“Pakistan Army is determined to defend Pakistan’s borders against the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve.”
Tuesday’s attack is one of many such incursions by the militants since the failure of talks between the government in Islamabad and the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistani, a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban which shares common roots with the new rulers of Afghanistan.
Last week, the TTP claimed a bomb attack that killed an influential anti-Taliban tribal leader Idrees Khan and four others. The attack occurred after reports of the “return” of the Pakistani Taliban to the northwestern Pakistani district of Swat.
On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered under the banner of Swat Qaumi Jirga in Mingora city to protest the “return” of the militants.
