WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington “supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks” as an intermittent conflict between Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan continues.
The statement followed cross border incursions by Pakistan and Afghanistan into the other’s territory, following a militant attack that killed three paramilitary troops in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.
The attack, claimed by Jamaat ul Ahrar, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), came amid a surge in militancy in Pakistan in recent years that has triggered skirmishes with Afghanistan since Feb.
“The Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists,” Reuters quoted the State Department as saying.
The United Nations said on Monday that at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 injured in airstrikes carried out by Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s Taliban said later in the week they launched airstrikes into Pakistani territory, while Islamabad said its forces had intercepted and shot down four rudimentary drones in the southern resource-rich province of Balochistan.
Pakistan is nuclear-armed and its military capabilities are vastly superior to Afghanistan’s. However, the Afghan Taliban, who govern Afghanistan, are adept at guerrilla warfare, hardened by decades of fighting US-led forces, before returning to power in 2021 when Washington withdrew.
Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of Washington. Ties between Washington and Islamabad have improved since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Pakistan has also been a mediator in attempts to resolve the US-Israeli war with Iran. Washington considers the Afghan Taliban to be a “terrorist” group.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that it blames for plotting attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban deny the accusations, say militancy is Pakistan’s internal problem and argue that Pakistan is deflecting blame for its own security failures.
