Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday that militants were using Afghan soil to carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The Pakistani defence minister’s remarks came a day after seven Pakistan Army personnel, including two officers, were martyred in a terrorist attack in the North Waziristan region of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Speaking to the media in Sialkot, Asif said, “Terrorism against us is mostly being conducted from Afghanistan.”
In the past, Pakistan has frequently accused the Afghan authorities of not taking action against terrorist outfits, including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). These groups are allegedly operating from the Afghan soil and carrying out cross-border attacks on Pakistani security forces and civilians.
According to Radio Pakistan, Asif told reporters at the presser that some facilitators of the terrorists have been traced, and Pakistan has raised the issue with the Afghanistan government. He reiterated that “those people [foreign national] who do not have valid documents would not be allowed to live in Pakistan”.
Without naming jailed prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the defence minister said those behind the social media campaign against martyrs must be “linked with terrorists”. He said that Khyber Pakhtukhwa, where the PTI is in power, is the most affected province by terrorism.
In a post on his X handle, the defence minister said that PTI’s involvement in the smear campaign against the martyrs and forces is a reflection of “anti-state attitude”.
Referring to the previous PTI-led government, which struck a ceasefire deal with the TTP, Asif asked: “Who brought thousands of terrorists from Afghanistan to Pakistan [and] kept explaining the benefits of their return in the National Assembly?”
He questioned why terrorism in the country witnessed a surge after removal of the PTI government. “Identify the enemies. Loyalty to Pakistan is condition to power,” he added.
