ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has delivered a demarche to the Afghan interim government over a suicide attack that killed 23 Pakistani soldiers in the northwestern Pakistani district of Dera Ismail Khan, the Pakistani Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
The early morning attack took place in Daraban area of Dera Ismail Khan, where six militants targeted a military post with an explosive-laden vehicle, according to the Pakistani military.
Tuesday’s assault on the Pakistani forces was claimed by a group affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad says has sanctuaries in the neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s foreign secretary summoned the Afghan Chargé d’Affaires to the Foreign Office in Islamabad and the delivered the demarche to protest the attack.
“The Cd’A of AIG was asked to immediately convey to the Afghan Interim Government to fully investigate and take stern action against perpetrators of the recent attack,” the Pakistani Foreign Office said in a statement.
Islamabad further asked the Afghan government to publicly condemn the incident “at the highest level,” take immediate action against all militant groups, and apprehend and handover to Pakistan the perpetrators of the attack and the TTP leadership in Afghanistan, according to the statement.
“Today’s terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the terrorist threat to peace and stability in the region,” it read.
“We must act resolutely with all our collective might to defeat this menace. On its part, Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to combat terrorism.”
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks in its northwestern and southwestern regions that border Afghanistan since the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in Islamabad in November 2022.
The attacks prompted Islamabad in October to order expulsion of all illegal foreigners, mostly Afghans, which was followed by a crackdown against illegal residents across the South Asian country.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans, many of whom had been living in Pakistan for decades, have since left the country.
Pakistan issues demarche to Afghan government over attack killing 23 soldiers
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Pakistan issues demarche to Afghan government over attack killing 23 soldiers
- The assault on Pakistani forces was claimed by a group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban
- Islamabad says the militant group has sanctuaries in Afghanistan, a charge denied by Kabul
Bangladesh bans Indian Premier League broadcasts in response to Mustafizur’s withdrawal
- Bangladesh said the decision was taken ‘in public interest’ after India gave no reason for exclusion of Mustafizur Rahman
- Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Sunday it has decided not to send its cricket team to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup
DHAKA: Bangladesh has banned broadcasts of the Indian Premier League after fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was withdrawn from cricket’s biggest T20 league on the instructions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Bangladesh’s ministry of information and broadcasting said in a statement on Monday that the decision was taken “in public interest” after the BCCI gave no reason for the exclusion of Mustafizur, a move it said “caused distress among the people of Bangladesh.”
It is for the first time that IPL broadcasts have been banned in Bangladesh since the league started in 2008.
Kolkata Knight Riders, which bought Mustafizur in the IPL auction, released the left-arm fast bowler on Saturday on the instructions of the BCCI.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board said in a statement on Sunday that it has decided not to send its cricket team to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup “following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India.”
The BCB said it also considered advice from its government before reaching out to the ICC “as the event authority to consider relocating all of Bangladesh’s matches to a venue outside India.”
The World Cup will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from Feb. 7-March 8. Bangladesh is due to play three group games in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
Pakistan is already scheduled to play all its group games and beyond, if it advances in the tournament, in Sri Lanka due political tensions with India that brought both countries to the brink of war last year.
