Amid the growing incidents along the Pak-Afghan border, Pakistan’s foreign office on Sunday issued a strong statement, saying terrorists were operating with impunity from Afghan soil.
This comes after the recent incident at the Pakistan-Afghan border area that left seven Pakistani soldiers dead. This incident has added to the already widening rift between the two neighbours.
In response to this attack which was reportedly carried out from across the border from Afghanistan, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kunar and Khost provinces.
“In the last few days, incidents along the Pak-Afghan Border have significantly increased, wherein Pakistani security forces were targeted from across the border,” Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement.
Islamabad stressed that it had repeatedly requested the Afghan government in the last few months to secure the border region since terrorists were using Afghan soil with impunity to carry out activities inside Pakistan.
The Taliban-led government later summoned Pakistan’s Ambassador over the strikes and warned of serious consequences if such attacks did not stop.
The UN mission in Afghanistan expressed deep concern over the reports of civilian casualties as a result of airstrikes in the Khost and Kunar provinces.
“UNAMA is deeply concerned by reports of civilian casualties, incl. women and children, as a result of airstrikes in Khost and Kunar provinces last night. Civilians are never a target. UNAMA is working to establish facts on the ground and verify the extent of losses. #Afghanistan,” the UN mission tweeted.