LAHORE: Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) issued a statement on Thursday, emphasizing the country’s right to conduct operations in border areas to protect its citizens from the threat of terrorism.
The announcement came amidst rising tensions with Afghanistan following accusations by the Taliban administration that Pakistani forces carried out an airstrike on Afghan soil earlier this week.
The FO clarified that these counterterrorism operations are guided by precise intelligence and are aimed at ensuring the safety of Pakistan’s population. “Our security personnel undertake carefully planned actions in border regions to neutralize threats posed by terrorist groups,” the FO spokesperson stated in a formal response.
Reports from security officials indicated that Pakistani fighter jets targeted suspected militant camps in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province on Tuesday. The strikes reportedly focused on TTP hideouts, resulting in the elimination of multiple militants.
However, these actions sparked sharp criticism from Kabul, with the Afghan Taliban government accusing Pakistan of violating Afghanistan’s territorial sovereignty.
In response, the Afghan foreign ministry summoned Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul to lodge a protest. The ministry condemned the strikes as a breach of sovereignty and suggested that certain factions in Pakistan were deliberately attempting to derail relations between the two nations.
The FO, however, reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to maintaining respectful ties with Afghanistan. “We prioritize dialogue in addressing bilateral issues, including security and border management,” the spokesperson emphasized, while underlining the country’s need to respond to threats posed by terrorist elements operating along the shared border.
The relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan has long been marked by friction, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harboring the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group responsible for attacks on Pakistani soil. Afghan authorities, however, have consistently denied these allegations, leading to ongoing tensions.
In a broader diplomatic effort, Pakistan’s Special Representative Sadiq Khan held meetings with Afghan officials in Kabul earlier this week. The discussions reportedly focused on enhancing cooperation in areas such as trade, border management, and security. Despite such engagements, mistrust persists between the two governments, exacerbated by recent cross-border skirmishes.
This week’s airstrikes echo similar operations conducted by Pakistan in March, which targeted militant groups in border regions. At the time, Islamabad stated that the operations were in response to a deadly attack on a security post in North Waziristan that had killed seven soldiers.
In July, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif reinforced Pakistan’s position on counterterrorism during an interview, asserting that the country would take necessary actions to eliminate threats, even across the border. “If attacked, we will respond appropriately. Protecting our people is non-negotiable,” Asif stated.
The recent developments underscore the precarious balance in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. While both sides emphasize dialogue, the presence of terrorist groups and continued accusations threaten to derail diplomatic progress, leaving the border region in a state of uncertainty.
