ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will consider a ceasefire with Afghanistan “over” even if a single cross-border attack occurred inside Pakistan, the Pakistani military said on Monday, with the two sides due to meet again in Istanbul this week.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have surged in recent months following an uptick in attacks, mainly by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) inside Pakistan. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering the TTP, an allegation Kabul denies.
The two countries engaged in fierce fighting last month after Pakistan hit what it called TTP-affiliated targets in Afghanistan. Both sides reached a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19 and are due to meet in Istanbul on Nov. 6 to finalize a vigilance mechanism, but Pakistani military officials say their patience is "wearing thin."
Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, a Pakistani military spokesperson, told media in Rawalpindi that the country’s armed forces had eliminated 1,667 militants so far this year, including "128 Afghan nationals," while 582 army personnel had been killed during the anti-militancy operations.
“If even a single terrorist incident happens in Pakistan from Afghan soil [now], the ceasefire will be considered over,” Sharif said adding that up to 60 percent of "TTP infiltrators were Afghan nationals."
“There have been three infiltration attempts by the TTP from Afghanistan in the past month — all foiled.”
Hours later, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military's media wing, said they had killed three Pakistani Taliban militants in two separate engagements near the border with Afghanistan. Two of the deceased militants were identified as Afghan nationals, it added.
Chaudhry said Pakistan participated in the recent Doha and Istanbul talks with an “open mind” and a single demand that cross-border militancy must come to an end.
“Pakistan has always given peace a chance,” he said. “We are not using force unnecessarily. [We are using] only where it is needed. But we will never talk to terrorists. We will talk to Afghanistan, not to those who kill our people.”
He said the army had stepped up operations in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border regions, particularly in Khyber and Tirah valleys, where militant networks are financed through narcotics and smuggling.
“Each acre of poppy yields up to Rs2.5 million ($8,841) and terrorist groups collect usher tax from locals,” the military spokesman said. “Drugs produced in Nangarhar are trafficked into Pakistan, funding the Afghan Taliban and TTP while destroying our youth.”
There was no immediate response from Afghanistan to the Pakistani military spokesman's statement.
‘UNFULFILLED PROMISES’
Sharif criticized the Taliban government in Kabul for failing to honor the Doha agreement with the United States (US).
“They promised a representative government and Loya Jirga. None of that has happened. This is not a representative government, it is a regime,” he said, adding that the Afghan people “do not support terrorism.”
The official alleged that the Afghan Taliban regime was relocating TTP fighters into civilian areas in Afghanistan to use residents as “human shields.”
“Pakistan has demanded the handover of TTP leaders Noor Wali Mehsud and Bashir Zeb,” he shared. “Why are they being protected there? Once handed over, we will deal with them under Pakistani law.”
US DRONE ATTACKS
The Pakistani military spokesman dismissed Afghan and Indian media reports, which suggested that US drones were operating from Pakistan to attack Afghanistan.
“These are completely false. Pakistan has no such agreement with any country,” he said, accusing hostile social media networks of spreading propaganda.
He said Pakistan’s security “is in our own hands, not in Afghanistan’s.”
“Security is not something you beg for, it comes from strength. Our security will not be dictated by Kabul. It will come from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of large-scale operations in the northwest, he clarified that the military preferred intelligence-based actions, which were producing "better results."
About the border security, he said Pakistan had fenced much of the 2,600-kilometer frontier with Afghanistan but called it “the only border in the world guarded by one side.”
He urged reciprocal measures from Kabul to curb infiltration and smuggling.
NUCLEAR TESTS
To a question about US President Donald Trump’s remarks on Pakistan’s nuclear test, he said that every nation has the sovereign right to take measures for its security.
"Pakistan can conduct tests or adopt any steps necessary to ensure the reliability of its deterrence," Chaudhry said.
Trump last week announced he had instructed the Department of Defense to “immediately” restart testing of US nuclear weapons.
“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it,” Trump said in reference to nuclear weapons during an appearance on the CBS News programme '60 Minutes.'
“We’re going to test because they test and others test. And certainly, North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing.”
None of the countries Trump mentioned has openly conducted nuclear weapon tests in recent years. He did not provide any evidence to support his claims either.
