The Taliban led government in Afghanistan on June 28, 2024, warned Pakistan that any incursion into its territory will have serious consequences, a day after Pakistan’s defence minister Khwaja Asif warned that the Islamic Republic can target the sanctuaries and safe havens of outlawed vagabond terrorist group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan under a newly launched so called military operation against terrorism.
“Afghanistan warns that any incursion into our territory regardless of the pretext or guise will bear serious consequences and violators will be held accountable,” the Afghanistan Defence Force warned. “The latest statement by Pakistan’s Defence Minister regarding the potential violation of Afghanistan’s national sovereignty is both unwise and an attempt to muddy waters which benefits no one. Pakistan’s leadership should refrain from making such sensitive statements on critical issues,” it said in a statement.
The Pakistani government launched an operation called Azm-i-Istekham last week to tackle the rising threat of terrorism in the lukewarm support by the Afghan Taliban to stop the use of their soil by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In an interview with an American media agency, the Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif said the decision to launch the counter terrorism operation was not made in haste, a Pakistan based media reported.
The decision about the Azm-i-Istekham was taken because of economic difficulties and it may also target TTP’s sanctuaries across the border, he told a US media agency network and radio broadcaster. The minister said that it would not be against international law since Afghanistan had been exporting terrorism to Pakistan and the exporters were being harboured there, a Pakistan national daily reported.
Asif said that although the TTP was operating from the neighbouring country, its cadre, about a few thousand in number are operating from within the country. He also ruled any chances of dialogue with the banned outfit saying that there was no common ground.
The TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan) also called Pakistan Taliban was set up as a umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan. The group believed to have close and deep connections with the Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan including an attack on the army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the capital of the Islamic Republic.
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