Islamabad delivers strong demarche to Kabul Bannu attack planned in Afghanistan, told envoy to Pakistan warns against d.
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan summoned the Afghan Taliban regime’s chargé d’affaires on Monday and delivered a strong demarche over the deadly suicide attack on a police post in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, warning that Islamabad reserves the right to respond decisively to those responsible.
The move came two days after a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack targeted Fateh Khel Police Post in Bannu on May 9, leaving 15 police officers martyred and four others injured, including a civilian.
In a sharply worded statement issued by the foreign ministry, Pakistan said a detailed investigation, backed by evidence and technical intelligence, indicated that the attack had been “masterminded by terrorists residing in Afghanistan.”
“The Afghan chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today [Monday] to deliver a strong demarche regarding the dastardly vehicle-borne IED attack carried out by terrorists of Fitna-al-Khawarij on Fateh Khel Police Post,” the statement said.
Islamabad reiterated its long-standing concern over the continued use of Afghan soil for terrorist attacks against Pakistan, stressing that the Afghan Taliban had failed to take “concrete and verifiable actions” against militant groups operating from their territory.
“It was impressed on the Afghan side that Pakistan reserves the right to respond decisively against the perpetrators of this barbaric act,” the State Department said.
The statement said the continued presence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan and the “permissive environment” that enables their operations have been documented in reports by UN monitoring teams and other international organizations.
Pakistan specifically referred to Fitna-al-Khawarij, Fitna-al-Hindustan and ISKP/Daesh and said it had repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban regime to act against these groups.
According to the State Department, Pakistan had also engaged constructively with the Afghan Taliban through several rounds of talks brokered by “fraternal and friendly countries”, but Kabul had consistently failed to commit to or deliver meaningful action against the outfit.
The latest demarche reflects a further deterioration of already strained ties between Islamabad and Kabul amid a rise in cross-border militant attacks.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly stated that Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers allowed anti-Pakistani terrorist groups, particularly the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.
The Bannu attack was among the deadliest attacks on security personnel in recent months and sparked renewed debate in Pakistan about how to deal with the growing militant threat emanating from across the border. The State Department warned that Pakistan would not compromise its national security or the safety of its citizens if the Afghan Taliban regime continued to harbor terrorist organizations.
