Islamabad is taking a firm step against Afghanistan’s planned Kabul Bannu attack, Pakistan envoy said, warning against d
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Monday summoned the Afghan Taliban regime’s charge d’affaires and launched a forceful approach over the deadly suicide attack on a police station in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, warning that Islamabad reserved the right to respond decisively against those responsible.
The move comes two days after an attack using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) targeted the Fateh Khel police station in Bannu on May 9, leaving 15 police officers martyred and four others injured, including a civilian.
In a stern statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan said a detailed investigation, supported by evidence and technical intelligence, indicated that the attack was “staged by terrorists residing in Afghanistan.”
“The Afghan charge d’affaires was summoned today to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [Monday] to take firm action regarding the cowardly IED attack carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij terrorists against the Fateh Khel police station,” the statement said.
Islamabad reiterated its long-standing concern over the continued use of Afghan soil for terrorist attacks against Pakistan and stressed that the Afghan Taliban had failed to take “concrete and verifiable measures” against militant groups operating from their territory.
“The Afghan side was convinced that Pakistan reserves the right to respond decisively to the perpetrators of this barbaric act,” the foreign ministry said.
The statement said the continued presence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan and the “permissive environment” enabling their operations have been documented in reports by the United Nations monitoring team and other international organizations.
Pakistan specifically referred to Fitna-al-Khawarij, Fitna-al-Hindustan and ISKP/Daesh, saying it had repeatedly urged the Afghan Taliban regime to take action against these groups.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan has also engaged constructively with the Afghan Taliban through several rounds of talks led by “brotherly and friendly countries”, but Kabul has never managed to engage or take meaningful action against these groups.
This latest move reflects a further deterioration in already tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul, amid a surge in cross-border militant attacks.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly said that Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership has allowed anti-Pakistan terrorist groups, particularly the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.
The Bannu attack was one of the deadliest attacks on security personnel in recent months and sparked a new debate in Pakistan over how to deal with the growing militant threat emanating from across the border. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned that Pakistan will not compromise its national security or that of its citizens if the Afghan Taliban regime continues to harbor terrorist organizations.
