ISLAMABAD: The General Headquarters (GHQ) on Friday summoned officials of the Afghan embassy in Rawalpindi to lodge protest against the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Afghan officials were handed over a list of 76 ‘most wanted’ terrorists by the Pakistan Army, DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet.
Afghanistan was asked to either take ‘immediate action’ against the named terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan, he said.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday also phoned US General John Nicholson, Resolute Support Mission (RSM) Commander in Afghanistan, and expressed his concerns over continued acts of terrorism in Pakistan with impunity from Afghanistan, ISPR DG Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a tweet.
Most of the incidents in Pakistan are claimed by terrorist organisations with leadership hiding in Afghanistan.
The COAS said that such terrorist activities and inaction against them are testing our current policy of cross border restraint. The COAS asked RSM commander to play his role in disconnecting this planning, direction, coordination and financial support.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa also informed him about list of terrorists handed over to Afghan authorities for action against them, who are hiding inside Afghanistan since long.
The US general expressed his condolences on loss of precious lives in recent terrorist incidents and assured full assistance in response to the concerns. The general also shared his plans to undertake special coordination at an appropriate level between RSM, Afghan security forces and Pakistan.
The move comes two days after a senior Afghan diplomat was summoned to Foreign Office in Islamabad to register protest over the use of territory of his country for launching terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan diplomat was given a demarche containing details of the recent terrorist attacks and supporting information.
United Nations and European Commission (UN&EC) Additional Secretary Tasnim Aslam in her meeting with the Afghan official had raised the ‘grave concern [Pakistan has] about the continuing terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil by the terrorist outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) [operating] from its sanctuaries inside Afghanistan’.
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday also visited Nawabshah and Sehwan and met injured of the Sehwan shrine blast incident, ISPR said in a tweet. “Terrorists will be targeted ruthlessly, indiscriminately – anywhere and everywhere. No let up,” he was quoted by ISPR as having told the injured.
Pakistan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Jamaat-ul-Ahrar announced its ‘Operation Ghazi’. The Afghanistan-based JuA had in the announcement also hinted at unification of TTP splinter groups. It should be recalled that TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah is also based in Afghanistan and Pakistani pleadings for his arrest and handover have remained unanswered.
Pakistan has closed its border with Afghanistan after the shrine attack due to security concerns.
