- Military says Pakistani Taliban militants attempted to infiltrate border through North Waziristan district
- Says Afghanistan has failed to ensure effective border management and honor its international obligations
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military’s media wing said on Thursday that security forces gunned down 15 militants while they were attempting to infiltrate the country’s border with Afghanistan, blaming Kabul for failing to ensure effective border management and prevent cross-border attacks.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces noticed a group of 15 Khawarij (a term the military uses for the Pakistani Taliban), attempting to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border through the North Waziristan district on the night of Aug. 31.
The ISPR said Pakistani troops opened fire at the militants, with the gunbattle lasting 36 hours before 15 militants were killed.
“During the follow up sanitization operation, a significant quantity of weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed khawarij,” the military’s media wing said.
The development takes place amid strained ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad blames Kabul for not taking action against militant groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which it alleges uses Afghan soil to launch attacks against Pakistani law enforcers. Afghanistan denies the allegations and says it does not provide sanctuaries to militants neither does it facilitate cross-border attacks into Pakistan.
The ISPR said the infiltration attempt vindicates Pakistan’s stance about the “abject failure” of Afghanistan’s government to deny the use of its soil for “cross-border terrorism.”
“The Afghan Taliban Regime has consistently failed to ensure effective border management and honor its international obligations,” the military’s media wing said.
The military vowed that security forces remain unwavering in their commitment to defend Pakistan’s frontiers, adding that sanitization operations are being carried out in the area to eliminate “Indian-sponsored” militants.
Pakistan also accuses India of sponsoring militant groups who carry out attacks in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces that border Afghanistan. New Delhi denies the allegations and accuses Pakistan of supporting militancy in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir territory that it administers. Islamabad denies this.
