ISLAMABAD:
Unprovoked firing by Afghan forces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border provoked a strong response from the Pakistan Army, resulting in the death of several Afghan soldiers and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists.
According to security sources, Afghan forces on Saturday night opened unprovoked fire at multiple locations along the border, including Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir and Chitral areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Zhob district in Balochistan province.
The objective of the shooting, they added, was to facilitate the cross-border movement of the “Khawarij” formations, TTP agents. The Pakistan Army’s “alert and surveillance” posts responded quickly and forcefully, and the exchange of fire continued until the report was submitted.
Security sources said Pakistan Army immediately carried out an effective retaliatory attack on several Afghan positions. Pakistan’s “timely and precise action” destroyed multiple Afghan border posts and left dozens of Afghan soldiers and Khawarij militants dead.
According to security officials, several Taliban personnel fled their positions, leaving bodies scattered around the area. They said the aggression from the Afghan side comes at a time when Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is on an official visit to India.
Pakistan is also skillfully targeting terrorist camps and hideouts of Khawarij and ISIS located near the border inside Afghanistan. Afghan forces have reportedly withdrawn from several areas as Pakistan’s effective and intense counter-offensive continues, officials said.
According to AFP, heavy clashes broke out between Afghan and Pakistani security forces on their common border on Saturday night after Kabul accused Islamabad of carrying out airstrikes against the capital, officials from both sides said.
“In retaliation for airstrikes by Pakistani forces,” Taliban border forces in the east “engaged in heavy clashes against posts of Pakistani forces in several border areas,” the Afghan military said in a statement.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Friday accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes on its territory and warned of “consequences.” Islamabad said its patience with Kabul was running out, neither acknowledging nor denying carrying out the airstrikes.
In a press conference on Friday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry “took note” of the reports of the strikes. “To protect the lives of the people of Pakistan, we are doing and will continue to do whatever is necessary. Our demand to Afghanistan: its soil must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan,” he added.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to expel terrorists who use Afghan territory to launch attacks against Pakistan, a charge that authorities in Kabul deny. The TTP and its affiliates are behind most of the violence in Pakistan, much of it directed against security forces.
Including Friday’s attacks, at least 32 Pakistani soldiers and three civilians have been killed this week alone in the border regions, while dozens of militants have also been killed.
More than 500 people, including 311 soldiers and 73 police, have been killed in attacks from January to September 15, the ISPR chief said on Friday.
Earlier this year, a UN report said the TTP “receives substantial logistical and operational support from de facto authorities,” referring to the Taliban government in Kabul.
Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament on Thursday that several efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop supporting the TTP had failed.
“We will not tolerate this anymore,” Asif said. “United, we must respond to those who facilitate them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or on Afghan soil.”
He warned that any response could cause collateral damage. “Everyone will have to bear the consequences, including those who provide the hiding places,” he said. “Enough is enough,” he added. “The patience of the Pakistani government and military has run out.”
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM AFP
