PAKISTAN carried out “calibrated” air strikes against terrorist hideouts near the Afghan border and conducted intelligence-based ground operations that killed a total of 37 terrorists following a series of deadly attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). In a statement, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in the aftermath of recent multiple terrorist incidents inside Pakistan against the innocent people of K-P; a well-planned intelligence-based ground operation was carried out by security forces around Kohat, Hangu and Thal, followed by calibrated air strikes against the hideouts and safe havens of terrorist organizations responsible for these attacks.
Unfortunately, Pakistan and Afghanistan are virtually in a state of war with serious consequences for their security, economies and people-to-people contacts. Sanity demands normalization as they say you cannot change your neighbor and have to find peaceful ways for settlement of differences. It is because of this that Pakistan never closed the doors for talks but regrettably there was no sincere or positive response from Afghanistan. It is as clear as day light that terrorists based in Afghanistan are carrying out dastardly attacks in Pakistan, killing innocent people and targeting personnel of law enforcing agencies and state symbols. Publicly, Afghanistan also claims it wants talks with Pakistan to sort out the issues involved but practically it is not cooperating on the core issue of terrorism emanating from its soil on the queer logic of describing terrorism as an internal issue of Pakistan. Yes, it would have been an internal issue if terrorist outfits involved in frequent attacks were based in Pakistan but it is universally realized that Afghanistan based terrorists have full backing and support of the Taliban regime for their anti-Pakistan activities. Pakistan has provided proof of this to Kabul as well as friendly countries that keep on stressing the two countries to resolve the issue peacefully. The latest situation emerged after 23 people, including 15 police personnel, were martyred in the blast at a mosque in Kohat’s Police Lines during Friday prayers. Eight terrorists were also killed during a subsequent search and clearance operation. Later, Ittihadul Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), led by Afghanistan-based Hafiz Gul Bahadur, claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing and rampage involving multiple attackers. Similar claims were also made by other groups based in Afghanistan for their involvement in acts of terror and sabotage in different parts of Pakistan. These confessions as well as several UN reports released in the past extensively dwelt upon the issue of Afghan-originated terrorism in Pakistan. All this confirms Pakistan’s complaints that the Taliban regime was not fulfilling its commitment under the Doha accord: not to allow its soil to be used for activities against any other country. It is a matter of grave concern that Afghanistan continues to remain a hub of terrorism, posing serious threats to Pakistan. The attitude of the Taliban regime demands an all out action against the terrorist support base but Pakistan is exercising maximum restraint and carries out purely intelligence-based operations to avoid collateral damage. Pakistan has repeatedly stated that the counterterrorism campaign, Ghazab lil Haq, being carried out by Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies under the “Azm-e-Istehkam” framework, would continue at full pace to eliminate what it described as the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country. This clearly means there can be no normalization of relations between the two countries without a verifiable solution of the issue of terrorists enjoying safe havens in Afghanistan. The situation is being complicated because of the Indo-Afghan nexus as there are credible reports that the two countries are comprehensively coordinating implementation of their anti-Pakistan strategies and plans. Afghanistan will have to adopt a realistic approach as the country cannot address its challenges of poverty and backwardness without a sincere cooperative relationship with Pakistan.
