Pakistan condemns deliberate, unlawful incursion into its territory from Afghanistan

Islamabad (Web Desk): Pakistan has strongly condemned what it described as an unlawful intrusion into its territory by drones launched from Afghanistan, calling the incident a serious violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In a post on X, Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan’s air defence systems detected and tracked the incoming drones and neutralised all of them before they could reach their intended targets.

He said Pakistan, exercising its right to self-defence, carried out targeted aerial and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan that were allegedly being used to launch and store the drones.

According to Tarar, the strikes were precise, limited and directed only at identified military targets linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan.

The minister said Pakistan had repeatedly raised concerns with the Afghan Taliban regime and its interlocutors over the presence of terrorist sanctuaries and support networks on Afghan soil.

He alleged that instead of taking verifiable measures against such networks, the Afghan Taliban regime had escalated tensions through hostile drone operations.

Tarar said Pakistan would not accept attacks originating from Afghan territory, whether carried out by terrorist organisations or by the Afghan Taliban regime itself. He warned that any violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty would receive an immediate response.

He further said statements denying responsibility or attempting to shift blame would not affect Pakistan’s right to defend its territory, citizens and national security.

The information minister urged the Afghan Taliban regime to immediately halt hostile activities against Pakistan and fulfil its international obligations by taking concrete and sustained action against terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil.

He stressed that Afghan territory should not be used for launching attacks or conducting hostile activities against Pakistan.

Tarar said Pakistan did not want escalation and remained committed to regional peace, dialogue and constructive engagement.

However, he added that this should not be interpreted as weakness or unlimited tolerance of hostile actions.

In a separate post on X, Tarar said Pakistan’s precision aerial and drone strikes had destroyed alleged terrorist hideouts and support infrastructure, including drone launch and storage facilities, at 10 locations under the control of the Afghan Taliban regime.

The minister also shared a video purportedly showing the strikes on the targeted sites. He said the locations were linked to terrorist attacks against civilians inside Pakistan as well as the recent drone intrusion.

Tarar said Pakistan would continue taking measures to protect its territorial integrity and safeguard the lives and property of its citizens against what he described as externally supported and sheltered terrorist threats.