ISLAMABAD: Increasingly frustrated by continuing cross-border militant attacks, Pakistan urged Kabul to secure its side of the porous border and take action against the elements involved in terrorism inside Pakistan.
Only this week, militants ambushed a military convoy in North Waziristan near the border, triggering an intense shootout in which seven soldiers and four insurgents were killed.
Since January, the military has killed 128 militants in the region bordering Afghanistan. It acknowledged that nearly 100 soldiers have been killed in militant attacks during the same period.
In a statement issued Sunday, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said incidents of terrorism along the border have increased in recent weeks, observing that security forces are being targeted from across the border.
He said that Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged for the past several months through institutional channels for effective coordination and security along their long shared border.
“Unfortunately, elements of banned terrorist groups in the border region, including TTP, have continued to attack Pakistan’s border security posts, resulting in the martyrdom of several troops,” said the spokesperson.
Pakistan has enjoyed good relations with the Taliban for years. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, there have been numerous standoffs along the 2,600 km (1,615 miles) border with Pakistan — drawn by British colonial rulers and disputed by Kabul.
The Taliban deny harbouring militants but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along the border.
Pakistan Army has stepped up operations along the border in recent months. On Saturday, the army reportedly fired rockets in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan in a pre-dawn assault.
A similar pre-dawn assault was carried out in Khost province near the border, another Afghan government official said.
“Pakistani helicopters bombarded four villages near the Durand line in Khost province,” he said on condition of anonymity.
There has been no official confirmation of the incident from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
