ISLAMABAD:
The Afghan Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul to register a formal protest over reported airstrikes inside Afghanistan, targeting hideouts of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
There has yet been no official word from Pakistan about the airstrikes which the Afghan side said targeted four towns in the Bermal district of Paktika province. Some sources claimed that at the time of the airstrikes, the TTP was holding a large meeting in Bermal.
While the Pakistani side remained silent on the bombing allegations, sources claimed that three key targets of the airstrikes were Munib Jatt, head of the TTP’s media cell, Umar Media, his deputy Abu Hamza and Akhtar Muhammad Khalil, a commander of his own group. faction.
The attacks appeared to be a response to a recent surge in TTP-sponsored terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The turning point appeared to be the latest attack in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa district of South Waziristan, in which 16 Pakistani soldiers were martyred.
Previously, Pakistan had carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan in March this year, in which hideouts of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group were hit. At that time, Pakistan, for the first time, publicly acknowledged and acknowledged those attacks.
The latest reports of airstrikes came on the day Pakistan’s special envoy, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, was in Kabul, holding talks with Taliban officials to break the ice. His visit was part of a renewed push to find a political solution to security problems.
Despite the airstrikes, Sadiq’s engagements in Kabul went ahead as planned on Wednesday. Hours after the attack, Sadiq held talks with the Afghan Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, Maulwi Abdul Kabir.
While holding talks with the Afghan authorities to find a diplomatic solution to the TTP issue, Pakistani diplomat Hafiz Zia Ahmad was called to the Afghan Foreign Ministry and issued a strong demarche.
The deputy spokesman for the Taliban government claimed that the Pakistani attacks killed 46 people and injured six. The Afghan side insisted that the dead were from Waziristan. A spokesperson for the Afghan Foreign Ministry said a letter of strong protest was given to the Pakistani diplomat.
Afghanistan, which has a long history of defending itself against great powers, strongly rejected any violation of territorial integrity and firmly committed to defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a statement.
He added that the Pakistani side had been clearly informed that protecting Afghanistan’s national sovereignty was a red line for Kabul and that such actions were highly irresponsible and would inevitably have consequences.
Earlier, Mullah Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban’s interim administration, said Pakistani jets bombed four locations in Paktika’s Barmal district on Tuesday night, killing 46 people, wounding six and destroying houses, according to the agency. Bakhtar state news station. .
According to Kabul, this was Pakistan’s second airstrike inside Afghanistan, after the first in March, which was formally protested by the Taliban administration.
Islamabad had yet to respond to Kabul’s claims. However, media reports citing unnamed Pakistani security officials said the fighter jets were targeting camps of the banned militant group TTP.
In recent months, the TTP has carried out deadly attacks against Pakistani security forces, mainly in border regions. Islamabad has long accused Kabul of failing to crack down on the TTP, which has reportedly been operating from Afghanistan. Kabul denies the accusation.
Following the airstrikes, the Afghan Ministry of National Defense said that the interim Taliban administration would not leave this act unanswered, but considered the defense of its territory as its inalienable right.
“Afghanistan considers this brutal act against all international principles and flagrant aggression and strongly condemns it. The Pakistani side must know that such arbitrary measures are not a solution to any problem,” the statement read.
The ministry also substantiated claims that Pakistani forces bombed Afghanistan’s Paktika province, adding that the bombing targeted civilians in Waziristan.
