Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Silent On Reported Airstrikes In Afghanistan
Pakistan’s foreign minister has declined to comment on reported airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Khost provinces, which the Taliban have blamed on Islamabad.
Pakistan’s foreign minister has declined to comment on reported airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Khost provinces, which the Taliban have blamed on Islamabad.
Ishaq Dar, speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, said his country’s ambassador in Kabul had been summoned and was reviewing details of the matter. He did not directly address whether Pakistan had carried out the strikes.
Dar downplayed the development, saying the summoning of ambassadors and the lodging of protests was a routine diplomatic practice and “nothing to worry about.”
He said that during a recent visit to Kabul alongside his Chinese counterpart, he urged Taliban officials to act against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). According to Dar, the two ministers pressed the Taliban to keep these groups away from border areas, prevent them from using Afghan soil for terrorism and hand them over to Pakistan and China.
Pakistani and Chinese foreign ministers were in Kabul this week for a trilateral meeting with the Taliban.
Sources told Afghanistan International that late Wednesday airstrikes targeted TTP and Hafiz Gul Bahadur group fighters in Khost and Nangarhar.
On Thursday, the Taliban’s foreign ministry accused Pakistan of carrying out the attacks and confirmed it had summoned Islamabad’s envoy.
Taliban officials said at least three civilians were killed and seven others wounded in the strikes.
