Pakistan Accuses Afghan of Unprovoked Border Firing, Warns Severe Response
Islamabad: On Tuesday, Pakistan accused the Afghan Taliban of “unprovoked firing” along the border and warned of a harsh response if such attacks continued. The firing comes just days after Pakistan launched airstrikes on alleged terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan following recent terror attacks within the country.
“The Afghan Taliban regime opened unprovoked fire in the Torkham and Tirah sub-sectors along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” the prime minister’s international media spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a post published on X on Tuesday.
He said Pakistani security forces returned fire immediately and effectively, “silencing Taliban aggression.”
He warned that “any further provocation will be responded to immediately and severely” and added that “Pakistan will continue to protect its citizens and guard its territorial integrity.”
The Afghan Taliban had previously vowed to respond to airstrikes.
Pakistan on Sunday claimed to have killed 70 terrorists in military strikes targeting at least seven militant hideouts in Afghanistan in retaliation for recent insurgent attacks in the country.
“Afghanistan has been exporting terrorism for a long time. Pakistan is taking all measures to secure the life and property of its citizens,” Pakistani Home Minister Talal Chaudhry told Geo News.
Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have deteriorated over Kabul’s alleged failure to prevent terrorists from using its territory to attack Pakistan.
According to the Pakistani army, in October last year, the two sides briefly engaged in an armed conflict in which 23 Pakistani soldiers and more than 200 Afghan Taliban soldiers were killed.
