Noting that serving a demarche alone to the Afghan government, following Tuesday’s suicide attack in DI Khan that killed 23 soldiers and wounded 30 others, was “insufficient,” Balochistan’s caretaker Information Minister Jan Achakzai on Wednesday put forth a set of counter-terrorism measures, among them a proposal to provide the United States with drone bases to target terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
The minister outlined various counter-terrorism strategies, emphasising that simply issuing a demarche to the Afghan government was inadequate. He underscored the necessity for more rigorous measures in the wake of the tragic incident.
Reacting to the incident, Achakzai stated that the DI Khan attack had crossed “all national security redlines of Pakistan”.
As part of seven proposed measures, he suggested considering reprisal attacks in Afghanistan, special targeted operations, air strikes, border
closure with Afghanistan, repatriation of Afghan refugees, anti-TTA political opposition gathering in Islamabad, and, finally, offering US drone bases to target al-Qaeda and other terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Emphasising the need to convey a strong message to the Afghan Taliban, he declared, “We will not tolerate this double game. Enough is enough.”
