Washington (Web Desk/Agencies): The United States (US) has called on the Taliban to ensure that terrorist attacks against Pakistan are not launched from Afghan soil.
Asked to comment on Pakistan’s “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” inside the border regions of Afghanistan, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said that the US “deeply” regrets the loss of life and “injustices” sustained during an attack in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Seven Pakistani troops were killed in the terrorist attack at a security post in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali area on Saturday.
“We urge the Taliban to ensure that terrorist attacks are not launched from Afghan soil and we urge Pakistan to exercise restraint and ensure civilians are not harmed in their counter-terrorism efforts,” Patel told his daily news briefing on Monday.
“And we urge both sides to address any differences. We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists who wish to harm the United States and our partners and allies,” he added.
Last month, the United Nations (UN) Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said in a report that al-Qaida operatives were increasingly assisting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants to launch cross-border attacks. And some ruling Taliban members joined TTP, the report noted.
“Besides supplying weapons and equipment, Taliban rank and file, al-Qaida core…. assisted TTP forces in cross-border attacks… Some Taliban members also joined TTP, perceiving a religious obligation to provide support,” the U.N. report said.
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan, told a seminar in Islamabad last week that up to 6,000 TTP fighters are sheltering in the neighboring country.
On Monday, Pakistan carried out anti-terrorist intelligence operations inside Afghanistan, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed.
In a statement, the FO said, "The target of the operation was the terrorists belonging to Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, which along with the banned TTP, is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside
Pakistan, resulting in deaths of hundreds of civilians and law enforcement officials.
The latest attack took place on March 16 at a security post in Mir Ali area in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which claimed lives of seven Pakistan Army soldiers.
The statement further said over the past two years, Pakistan has repeatedly conveyed its serious concerns to the Interim Afghan government over the presence of terror outfits including TTP inside Afghanistan.
It said that these terrorists pose a grave threat to Pakistan's security and have consistently used Afghan territory to launch terror attacks inside Pakistani territory.
“We have repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities to take concrete and effective action to ensure that the Afghan soil is not used as a staging ground for terrorism against Pakistan. We have also called on them to deny safe havens to TTP and to hand over its leadership to Pakistan,” the FO statement said.
The FO made it clear that Pakistan has great respect for the people of Afghanistan. However, certain elements among those in power in Afghanistan are actively patronizing TTP and using them as a proxy against Pakistan.
Such an approach against a brotherly country, which stood with the people of Afghanistan through thick and thin, manifests shortsightedness. It ignores the support extended by Pakistan to the people of Afghanistan over the last several decades.
“We urge these elements in power to rethink the policy of siding with Khwarij terrorists shedding the blood of innocent Pakistanis and to make a clear choice to stand with the people of Pakistan,” the FO statement said.
It said that said terrorist groups like TTP are a collective threat to regional peace and security. It said Pakistan fully realizes the challenge Afghan authorities face in combating the threat posed by TTP.
The FO said that Pakistan would therefore continue to work towards finding joint solutions in countering terrorism and to prevent any terrorist organization from sabotaging bilateral relations with Afghanistan.
Earlier on Monday, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the security forces have killed a high value target identified as terrorist commander Sehra alias Janan among the eight other terrorists during an Intelligence Based Operation (IBO) conducted on the night of March 17 and 18th in North Waziristan District, the military’s media wing stated.
According to the military’s media wing, after an intense fire exchange, eight terrorists including terrorist commander Sehra alias Janan were killed during the operation.
“The terrorist commander was involved in orchestrating the terrorist attack on Security Forces’ Post in Mir Ali on March 16 and was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies,” the ISPR said.