Renewing the demand for an action against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan, Pakistan on Tuesday summoned a senior Afghan embassy official to lodge a formal protest over the latest cross-border terrorist attack in which two servicemen, including a captain, were martyred.
The Afghan charge d’affaires was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a strong protest was lodged with the Afghan government over the Monday’s incident that saw militants from across the border targeting a Pakistani posts near Bajaur.
In the resulting fire fight, at least eight terrorists were killed while two Pakistani soldiers – Captain Junaid Hafeez and Sepoy Raham – embraced martyrdom.
Lodging a protest over the incident, the Foreign Office in a statement said that Pakistan had been witnessing a surge in terrorist attacks on its security forces deployed along the border with Afghanistan that were engaged in strengthening border management.
“These cross-border terrorist attacks on Pakistani forces confirm the presence of a large number of terrorists in the increasingly ungoverned spaces in Afghanistan,” it said, adding that the forces supporting those acts of terrorism against Pakistan were a serious threat to peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.
“This was also demonstrated earlier this month when elements inimical to peace and security in the region had targeted and martyred a Pakistani diplomatic official in Jalalabad,” the Foreign Office statement said.
Pakistan urged the Afghan government to take immediate action against the terrorists and terrorist groups finding sanctuaries in Afghanistan and targeting Pakistani security forces.
“Strengthening the border management is critical to preventing such cross-border attacks,” the statement concluded.
The latest incident undermined ongoing efforts by the two countries to improve troubled ties. It also highlights the daunting task facing the two countries to manage the 2,600km-long porous border. Pakistan has started fencing the border but Afghanistan has done nothing to secure its side of the frontier.
Pakistan Army said that the Monday’s attack was a reflection of security vacuum on the Afghan side.
This article originally appeared in The Express Tribune on November 15, 2017. Original link.
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