Pakistan says it struck 10 Afghan sites after attempted cross-border drone attack
Pakistan said on Thursday that it had carried out precision aerial and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan in response to attempted drone attacks from across the border a day earlier. Information Minister Atauallah Tarar said the action was taken after Pakistan shot down eight drones that had entered its airspace from Afghanistan, according to security sources.
In a statement, Tarar said the strikes were "deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan". He said Pakistan acted "in exercise of its sovereign right to self-defence" and targeted 10 locations in Afghanistan that were being used to launch and store the drones.
The minister said Pakistan would neither accept nor tolerate attacks launched from Afghan territory, whether by terrorist groups or by the Afghan Taliban regime itself, and said any violation of Pakistan's sovereignty would draw an immediate and decisive response. "Threats, denials or attempts to deflect responsibility by Afghan Taliban will neither alter the facts nor constrain Pakistan's inherent right to defend its territory, its people and its national security," he said.
Tarar said Pakistan condemned "in the strongest possible terms the deliberate and unlawful incursion into Pakistan by drones on September 23, launched from Afghan territory", calling it "a blatant violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity and is a grave and unacceptable act of aggression". He said Pakistan had for years repeatedly conveyed its concerns to the Afghan Taliban regime and its interlocutors over the continued presence of terrorist sanctuaries and support networks on Afghan soil.
"Instead of dismantling these networks and taking credible and verifiable action against those using Afghan territory to perpetrate terrorism against Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban regime has chosen to escalate the situation through hostile drone operations against Pakistan," he said. Tarar added that Pakistan's air defence systems had detected, tracked and neutralised all the intruding drones before they could reach their intended targets, and had comprehensively thwarted the attempted attack.
Pakistan has called on the Afghan Taliban regime to immediately stop all hostile activity against it and fulfil its international obligations by taking effective, concrete, verifiable and sustained action against terrorist entities operating from Afghan soil, the statement said. "Afghan territory must not be used to launch attacks or conduct hostile operations against Pakistan," it added.
Tarar said Pakistan did not seek escalation and remained committed to regional peace, dialogue and constructive engagement, but said this should not be mistaken for weakness or unlimited tolerance of hostile actions. "Pakistan will defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and the lives of its citizens with full resolve and will take all necessary measures to protect them. Any further provocative act by Afghan Taliban will be responded with firm and resolute response," he said.
Relations between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan have deteriorated over Pakistan's allegations that Kabul is not acting against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militants who allegedly use Afghan territory for training and attacks in Pakistan. The strikes came after a major attack in the old Police Lines area in KP's Kohat that killed 23 people and injured about 100, after which eight terrorists were killed in an overnight clearance operation. Overall, Pakistan said the strikes in Afghanistan were a direct response to the attempted drone attacks and part of its stated effort to counter threats originating from across the border.
