ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday justified its strikes in Afghanistan, saying it had “exercised its right to self-defense,” as an international wire agency reported Afghan and Pakistani officials confirming a ceasefire extension for talks in Doha.
The fierce battles between the two neighbors along their long and porous border broke out last Saturday and led to the deaths of dozens of people on both sides, with Pakistan carrying out airstrikes in Kandahar and Kabul before a two-day truce was agreed that was set to expire Friday evening.
The clashes came amid Pakistan’s claims that the Afghan Taliban had been sheltering banned militant groups like theTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and facilitating cross-border attacks, allegations Kabul denies.
“Such unprovoked actions aimed at destabilizing the Pakistan-Afghanistan border belied the overall spirit of a peaceful neighborhood and cooperative relations between the two neighboring countries,” Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly news briefing, referring to the clashes. “Pakistan, exercising its right of self-defense, not only effectively repulsed the assaults all along the border but also inflicted heavy losses on Taliban forces and affiliated terrorist groups.”
He maintained that Pakistan’s “targeted and precise defensive response” was not directed toward the Afghan civilian population.
“Unlike Taliban forces, we exercise extreme caution in our defensive responses to avoid the loss of civilian lives,” he continued.
Khan said Pakistan was closely monitoring the situation and would take all possible measures to safeguard its territory and the lives of its people.
He also cautioned against the continued militant presence in Afghanistan, saying they enjoyed freedom of activities in that country, which was well documented and mentioned in the United Nations Monitoring Team reports.
“The fight against terrorism is a common cause,” he added. “Instead of shifting responsibilities, the Taliban regime should honor its commitment not to allow its territory to be used for terrorism against other countries and play its due role in achieving peace and stability in the region and beyond.”
Within a few hours of his news conference, Reuters reported that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to extend the 48-hour ceasefire reached on Wednesday until the conclusion of planned talks in Doha.
However, the truce remains fragile, as Pakistan’s security sources said on Friday that 94 militants had been killed in multiple operations over the past four days in areas along the Afghan border, even amid the 48-hour ceasefire.
They added that security officials had also seized and destroyed a vehicle “loaded with hundreds of kilograms of explosives,” that the TTP had planned to detonate in a civilian area of the Bajaur district.
Reporting from Kabul, AFP quoted an official at the Paktika provincial hospital as saying later in the day that 10 people had been killed and a dozen more were wounded in a Pakistani strike on a border province in western Afghanistan.
A senior security official from Pakistan said “precision airstrikes” were carried out against the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group in Afghanistan’s border areas adjoining the South and North Waziristan districts, adding that it was in response to multiple attacks by militants inside Pakistan.
The Foreign Office spokesperson said, prior to these developments, Pakistan had repeatedly shared its concerns related to the presence of TTP and BLA militants in Afghanistan, adding that Islamabad expected concrete and verifiable actions against them by the Taliban regime.
He said Islamabad had always preferred diplomacy to address outstanding issues with Kabul and wanted regional stability.
