On its western border with Afghanistan, things seem to be getting hotter by the day for Pakistan with many of its posts being targeted. Incidents of heavy firing by Afghanistan security forces were reported on December 28 and December 29 from many areas. Some Pakistani soldiers are reported to have died and many others were injured though Pakistan tried to downplay the firing by Afghanistan forces.
Officials from both Afghanistan and Pakistan confirmed reports of sporadic fighting, including the use of heavy armaments. These firing incidents were reported overnight between border forces along the frontier separating Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and Afghanistan’s Khost province. The trigger for the hostile action of the Afghanistan forces was the aerial bombing by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets on Afghan territory. Pakistani jets apparently targeted positions held by Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters.
These exchanges of fire followed accusations by Afghanistan’s Taliban officials that Pakistan had caused over 46 fatal casualties, mostly women and children, in air strikes near the border in Paktika province this week. On the other hand, Pakistani officials did not confirm that PAF jets were used for carrying out attacks inside Afghan territory.
On Friday, the Pakistan Army traced what it termed “terrorist attacks’’ in Pakistan to Afghan soil. It said that militant groups were being given “sanctuaries, support, and freedom” to operate unrestrained within Afghan territory.
Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the chief military spokesperson, who heads Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), said at a press conference in Rawalpindi that Pakistan would leave no stone unturned to dismantle terrorist networks, and ensure the safety of its citizens.
“The army chief holds a clear and firm stance that Pakistan has concerns over the safe havens, facilitation, and unrestrained activities of proscribed organisations operating from the Afghan soil,” Lt-Gen Chaudhry said.
He said that for the first time ever, there was a clear and comprehensive policy on Afghanistan. He warned that status quo was no more acceptable. “Afghanistan will have to choose its bilateral relations with Pakistan over Fitna Alkhawarij,” he stressed. It is widely believed that Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cadres are active in large parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and have bases in nearby border areas of Afghanistan. In Pakistani official briefings, the name TTP is mentioned as “Fitna Khawarij’’.
This ISPR statement came amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and Kabul. The Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed an intelligence-based operation against militants near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border but refrained from specifically mentioning the operation was carried out inside Afghanistan. It also did not mention that use of aircraft was resorted to carry out these attacks inside Afghan territory.
“One frontier corps (FC) soldier has been reported dead, and seven others have been injured,” a senior security source at the border informed AFP, noting that clashes occurred in at least two locations in Pakistan’s Kurram border district, according to The Tribune of Pakistan.
The Afghan defence ministry said on X that “several points” across the Pakistani border “where the attacks in Afghanistan were organised were targeted in retaliation”.
During the press conference, a journalist raised a question mentioning former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s criticism of Pakistan’s Afghan policy, suggesting that issues should be resolved through dialogue.
In response, the ISPR chief stated, “Pakistan has been engaging with the Afghan interim government for the past two years, directly asking them to prevent their soil from being used for terrorism.”
Without directly naming the former government or Imran, he remarked, “When the backbone of terrorists was broken in 2021, who decided to resettle them through negotiations? We are all paying the price for those decisions.”
He added: “It is now evident who insisted in 2021 on negotiating with these militants, and Pakistan, especially Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, is bearing the consequences of that stubbornness.”
