Islamabad: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Wednesday hinted that the country’s military could launch an operation against “terrorist hideouts” in Afghanistan as Islamabad wants to take strong action against the outfits which are providing safe haven to hostile elements.
“If we have to go after Pakistan’s enemies in any country, we will do so,” said Khawaja Asif while calling out Afghanistan and the Taliban government for supporting terror groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Asif’s statement comes a day after Tuesday’s high-level meeting between Pakistan’s top political and military leadership during which it was decided to eliminate terrorism in all its forms.
Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of letting anti-Pakistan terror groups operate from its soil. The Sharif government has repeatedly claimed that the Afghan Taliban are harbouring, facilitating, supporting and even funding anti-Pakistan groups.
Pakistan has carried out air strikes inside Afghanistan in the past and claimed to have hit and killed TTP terrorists by targeting their hideouts.
The air raids carried out in December 2024 targeted the Barmal district in Paktika province near Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal district.
The Afghan Taliban confirmed the attack and claimed that the airstrikes by Pakistan killed at least 46 innocent people, including women and children.
Pakistan claimed that it had intelligence-based information of the precise locations where TTP militant’s safe havens inside Afghanistan were located, adding that the air strikes targetted and killed terrorists.
Islamabad also claims that the recent hijacking of the Jaffar express train in Balochistan was carried out by terrorists who were communicating with their handlers in Afghanistan.
The Jaffar Express train attack in Bolan Pass carried out by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) resulted in a 36-hour standoff. Dozens of people were killed in the attack, including hostages, security personnel and BLA militants.
The attack prompted the top civilian and military brass to immediately implement the revised National Action Plan (NAP) and the ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’ strategy to eradicate terrorist networks.
Targetting suspected militant hideouts inside Afghanistan may however further deteriorate the already-damaged relations between the two countries, which continue to remain strained now for a long time.
IANS
