(IntegrityTimes.com) – On Monday March 18, Pakistan launched airstrikes against Afghanistan targeting the Khost and Paktika provinces where they believed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were hiding out. The Afghan Taliban responded by attacking Pakistani positions along the border. However, Pakistan’s defense and foreign ministries claims their airstrikes were retaliatory, possibly referring to a suicide bombing that took place at a Pakistani military post in North Waziristan on Saturday March 16.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry says that elements of banned terrorist groups such as the TTP have continued to attack their border posts from their safe haven in Afghanistan. The suicide bombing that took place on Saturday killed seven Pakistani security force members. Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, says Pakistan should stop blaming Afghanistan for the problems in their territory caused by their own incompetence and lack of control.
Afghanistan’s Taliban made a public statement condemning Pakistan for the air strikes on its territory, which resulted in the deaths of five women and three children. The Taliban defense ministry says that they focused their response on military targets only. Mujahid also asserts that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan does not allows its territory to be used by militant groups as that would compromise their security.
Pakistani officials have complained that terrorists seem to be using advanced American weaponry to attack them. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, then-caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, in a televised statement in early September, said that President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 resulted in waves of terrorist attacks on the Pakistani border. This was because the U.S. abandoned American artillery during the chaotic withdrawal, leaving it available to militants. Although all-out war does not seem likely at this time, it is clear the hostilities are far from over.
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