
The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Pakistan carried out an intelligence-led operation against terrorists in “border areas based on threats to the security of Pakistani citizens,” referring to an air strike carried out on Tuesday evening.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained due to repeated border skirmishes, and Islamabad has repeatedly called on Kabul to take action against the banned Pakistani Taliban movement for using Afghan territory to launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul denies these accusations.
The Foreign Office spokesman’s statement – the first official word from the government on the matter – comes after Pakistan carried out air strikes in the neighboring country on Tuesday, which security officials said targeted several suspected terrorists.
Late Tuesday night, Pakistani security officials said that fighter jets bombed four sites, said to be Pakistani Taliban camps, in the Paktika province of eastern Afghanistan, targeting and neutralizing several suspected terrorists.
Later, the Afghan Taliban regime lodged a strong protest with Islamabad over the airstrike, warning that Afghanistan’s territorial sovereignty is the red line of the ruling Islamic emirate.
In a written statement issued in response to A Dawn.com In a query, the Foreign Minister said: “Our security and law enforcement operation related to personal conduct in the border areas is to protect the people of Pakistan from terrorist groups. These counter-terrorism operations are carefully selected and based on accurate intelligence.
Responding to queries during a press conference in Islamabad earlier today, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: “Pakistan carried out the intelligence-based operation in the Afghan border areas.”
She added that this was done “based on threats to the security of Pakistani citizens.”
But the official stressed that Pakistan “has always given priority to dialogue on issues related to relations with Afghanistan.”
She stressed: “We respect Afghanistan’s unity and sovereignty.”
Baloch noted that Pakistani security forces and law enforcement agencies routinely conduct operations “against terrorist groups in the border areas.” She stressed that “preparations for these operations are being made with great care.”
Noting that protecting its citizens is Pakistan’s top priority, the Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed that there are “threats posed by terrorist elements to Pakistan and its citizens.”
Baloch said: “Pakistan is committed to the security of its people.”
More to follow