RAWALPINDI – Pakistan Army on Thursday said that the January 24 drone strike near the tribal areas targeted an individual who had mixed with Afghan refugees.
Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, in a tweet, stated that the strike in Spintal, Hangu was not on any organised terrorists’ sanctuary — which has been eliminated.
“Out of total 54 Afghan Refugees Camps/complexes in Pakistan, 43 are in KP with overlap in FATA,” said a press release shared by ISPR.
It said that the incident validates Pakistan’s stance that the remaining terrorists easily morph into Afghan refugees’ camps/complexes.
Drone strike on 24 Jan was on individual target morphed into Afghan Refugees and not any organised terrorists sanctuary which have been eliminated. Validates Pak’s stance that early and dignified return of Afghan Refugees to Afghanistan is essential. pic.twitter.com/SQ5SFuYKtr
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) January 25, 2018
Earlier today, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said that Pakistan sticks to its stance that the recent US drone strike targeted an Afghan refugee camp near Kurram Agency.
He was likely responding to a statement by the US Embassy earlier in the day which denied Pakistan’s claim that the drone strike struck an Afghan refugee camp.
According to the embassy’s spokesperson, “The claim of an MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] statement yesterday that US forces struck an Afghan refugee camp in Kurram Agency yesterday is false.”
Pakistan had on Wednesday condemned the drone strike conducted by coalition forces near Kurram Agency and called the unilateral action detrimental to the spirit of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism.
The Foreign Ministry had stated that the strike had targeted an Afghan refugee camp. According to political administration sources in the area, two people including a commander of the Haqqani Network were killed in the drone strike close to the Orakzai and Kurram Agency border.
