The escalation comes days after Pakistan reportedly carried out an airstrike in Kabul, according to security officials from both countries.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi addresses the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey.(photo:https://twitter.com/AntalyaDF)
Fierce clashes broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday night following a Taliban assault on Pakistani military posts.
The escalation comes days after Pakistan reportedly carried out an airstrike in Kabul, according to security officials from both countries.
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Taliban fighters launched retaliatory attacks on Pakistani troops, accusing Islamabad of striking targets inside Afghan territory. Senior Taliban officials from multiple provinces claimed that their forces had captured two Pakistani border posts in Helmand province — a development confirmed by local authorities.
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Earlier on Thursday, two explosions were reported in Kabul and another in southeastern Afghanistan. In response, the Taliban-run defence ministry accused Pakistan of “violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty” in connection with the airstrikes.
Rattled by Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visit to India, Pakistan summoned the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad to express “strong reservations” over the India-Afghanistan joint statement issued in New Delhi.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) said that the Additional Foreign Secretary (West Asia & Afghanistan) conveyed Islamabad’s concerns to the Afghan envoy regarding references to Jammu and Kashmir in the joint communiqué, according to a news agency report.
“The reference to Jammu and Kashmir as part of India is a clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the FO stated.
Islamabad also dismissed Muttaqi’s remarks describing terrorism as an internal matter for Pakistan. The FO emphasised that deflecting responsibility for terrorism onto Pakistan would not absolve the Afghan interim government of its duty to uphold regional peace and stability.
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