People inspect the damage after a drone hit a residential house in the Sarah Gharghai area of Quetta. Photo: Reuters
ISLAMABAD:
President Asif Ali Zardari said on Saturday that Afghan Taliban elements had crossed a “red line” by carrying out rudimentary drone strikes targeting Pakistani civilian areas and warned that the move had brought serious consequences for the regime in Kabul.
Pakistan is likely to respond strongly to what officials describe as a new provocation by the Afghan Taliban regime after security forces intercepted two rudimentary drones launched by a Kabul-backed terror group near Islamabad, according to officials.
According to the officials, the drones were detected and neutralized through measures described by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) as both “soft and hard kill” before they could reach their intended targets.
The ISPR said debris from the drones injured two children in Quetta and one civilian each in Kohat and Rawalpindi.
“These attacks were aimed at instilling fear in the public and reminding us of the terrorist mindset that drives the Afghan Taliban. On the one hand, the Afghan Taliban project victims to gain global sympathy, while on the other hand they actively target civilians through their terrorist proxies and drones,” the statement said.
The president condemned the incidents, saying the illegitimate Taliban regime had escalated tensions by targeting civilians despite Pakistan’s continued efforts to promote regional peace and stability.
He strongly condemned the rudimentary drone strikes carried out a day earlier by Afghan Taliban elements aimed at targeting civilian areas in Pakistan.
The President said that the illegitimate and terrorist Taliban regime had brought dire consequences upon itself by crossing this red line.
“The illegitimate regime in Afghanistan installed by terror and brute force continues to renege on its obligations not to provide safe havens to terrorist groups and now has the audacity to provoke a major military power in the Islamic world,” the Presidential Secretariat Media Wing quoted the president as saying in a press release.
As the Afghan terror regime sought talks with Pakistan’s friendly countries, the president said it had crossed a red line by trying to target their civilians, while Pakistan remained committed to efforts to promote peace and stability in the Gulf region and West Asia.
He also expressed his best wishes for the speedy recovery of children and other civilians injured by drone debris in Quetta, Kohat and Rawalpindi.
The President reaffirmed that Pakistan’s armed forces and security institutions remained fully committed to defending the country and protecting its people.
Authorities confirmed that no military installations or civilian infrastructure were hit in the incident.
The ISPR said that the people of Pakistan and its armed forces were fully aware of the true nature and intentions of the terrorist-for-hire militia currently ruling Afghanistan.
“Operation Ghazab Lil Haq will continue until the Afghan Taliban address Pakistan’s core concern of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil. Pakistan’s armed forces stand firm in the fight against terrorism and its manifestations, such as Afghan Taliban drone strikes. We will continue to defend the people of Pakistan against terrorists and their facilitators, and we will continue to defend the people of Pakistan against terrorists and their facilitators, and will not face such facilitators. Taliban,” the statement said.
Although the Afghan Taliban Defense Ministry claimed it carried out the strikes, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in a statement pointed fingers at Fitnal Khwarij, a term used for the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
It said the drones were operated by the group referred to as FAK, which Pakistani authorities say is supported and nurtured by the Afghan Taliban regime.
Officials say the latest incident reinforces Islamabad’s long-standing concern about terrorist groups using Afghan territory to target Pakistan.
The Information Ministry rejected claims circulated by Taliban-linked accounts suggesting the drones had successfully hit Pakistani targets.
The officials said the Taliban regime’s statements were not supported by any verifiable evidence and were part of what they described as a pattern of propaganda and disinformation.
Government sources also pointed out that the Taliban-linked accounts have previously made claims that were later retracted, including claims that aircraft belonging to the Pakistan Air Force had been shot down and pilots captured. These posts were later deleted without explanation.
The latest drone incident comes just a day after Pakistan carried out a series of precision strikes against what it described as terrorist infrastructure inside Afghanistan. On the night of March 12-13, Pakistani forces targeted several locations believed to be used by militant groups planning attacks against Pakistan.
Among the sites hit were infrastructure associated with the 313 Corps headquarters in Kabul, including an ammunition storage facility. Additional strikes were carried out in Kandahar, where Pakistani officials said a terrorist training camp in Tarawo was destroyed along with other militant infrastructure, which included oil storage facilities used to support militant operations.
Another attack targeted a terrorist camp in the Sher-e-Nau area of Paktia province, which authorities said had been used as a staging area for cross-border attacks against Pakistan.
The security officials described these strikes as “precision operations” designed to dismantle terrorist infrastructure rather than targeting Afghan civilians or government institutions.
After intercepting the drones, the officials suggested that Pakistan could step up its response if attacks from Afghan territory continue. The message from Islamabad, according to the officials, remains consistent: terrorist groups must not be allowed to operate from Afghan soil.
The authorities say Pakistan has made clear that its primary demand from the Afghan Taliban regime is to stop harboring and supporting militant leadership involved in attacks against Pakistan. Officials warned that failure to curb such groups could result in further consequences.
“Truth always triumphs over lies,” an official said, reiterating that Pakistan will continue to act against threats to its security.
