Pakistan’s defence minister warned that the country could launch a decisive operation against the Afghan Taliban in response to a militant attack on a police post in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Khawaja Asif said Pakistan will do the same with the Taliban in Afghanistan as it did in last year’s war with India.
Last May, India and Pakistan clashed for four days following a terrorist attack on Indian soil. The war has pushed South Asia to the brink of a dangerous escalation, with Pakistan claiming to have inflicted extensive damage, including on advanced Indian fighters.
According to Geo News, Khawaja Asif on Monday claimed that India’s proxy war against Pakistan continues under the banner of the Taliban. “No one in human history has been as ungrateful as the Taliban,” he said.
Pakistan supported the group during the Taliban’s two-decade war with the former government and US forces in Afghanistan. After the fall of the previous regime, Khawaja Asif had officially expressed happiness over the Taliban’s return to power.
Analysts say that Pakistan supported the Taliban because of the previous government’s proximity to India. At that time, Islamabad also complained about India’s interference in its affairs through Afghanistan. Pakistani officials now refer to the Taliban, their former proxy, as an ally of India, accusing the group of supporting militant attacks in Pakistan on India’s behalf.
“We will take account of every drop of blood spilled as a result of this terrorism and we will not rest until the terrorists are completely destroyed,” he said.
The Pakistani army attacked targets in Afghanistan for several weeks after threatening the country’s defense minister several times. During the tension, attacks by TTP militants had decreased; however, after a while, the Pakistani Taliban resumed their attacks on Pakistani security forces.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned the Taliban’s embassy chargé d’affaires in Islamabad in connection with the May 9 attack on a police station in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and handed over a letter of protest to him. Pakistan has claimed that the attack was planned in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that based on investigations, evidence and intelligence information, the attack was planned by militants “based in Afghanistan”, adding that 15 Pakistani security forces were killed in the attack.
Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban to stop attacks by Pakistani militants on its soil, but the Taliban says it is unable to prevent attacks by the TTP and other militants in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has said that until the Taliban expels TTP and Baloch forces from Afghanistan, Pakistan’s relations with the Taliban administration will not be normalized and military operations in Afghanistan will continue.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and China’s envoy to Afghanistan Yu Xiaoying on Monday discussed the continuation of the Urumqi talks and regional security. China’s envoy has said that the next round of talks between Pakistan’s representatives and the Taliban in Urumqi should lead to “practical” results.
