ISLAMABAD: Days after Pakistan struck banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targets in Afghanistan, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Islamabad does not want any “armed conflict” with Kabul. “Force is a last resort. We don’t want to have an armed conflict with Afghanistan,” Asif said, speaking to VOA.
The defense minister’s remarks come at a time when the neighboring countries have seen a spike in already strained bilateral relations due to increasing terrorist attacks by the TTP and other outlawed outfits based in Pakistan’s Afghanistan territory.
On Monday, Pakistan conducted Intelligence Operations (IBO) targeting the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of the TTP, which is responsible for the March 16 attack in Mir Ali, North Waziristan and a number of other terror attacks in the country. Islamabad’s action came after a deadly attack on Pakistani forces that resulted in the martyrdom of seven soldiers including a lieutenant colonel and a captain.
Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan interim government to prevent the use of its soil against Pakistan by the TTP and other militant organizations – which Kabul vehemently denies. “Don’t let TTP start a war” Terming Pakistan’s military action in Afghanistan as a necessary message against growing cross-border terrorism, the minister called on the Afghan interim regime to “control” the TTP and “not let them start a war” with Pakistan while living in Afghanistan.
“We cannot continue like this,” he said, adding that Islamabad would be forced to retaliate if the TTP continued its attacks. Elaborating on the prospects of bilateral trade and the prospect of providing an economic corridor to Kabul due to the landlocked country, Asif questioned why Islamabad should consider such a possibility when the neighboring country treats it “as an enemy”.
According to VOA, about 5,000 to 6,000 TTP fighters remain in Afghanistan after being driven out of Pakistani territory by the army’s large-scale counter-terrorism operation in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan.
In addition, the United Nations assessment also confirms the presence of the TTP in Afghanistan, the publication added. Expressing his views on the TTP’s presence in Afghanistan, the defense minister said the militant group “is allowed” to operate as part of the interim Afghan government’s efforts to prevent its fighters from joining IS-Khorasan Province (ISKP) – a rival group that has been involved in armed conflict with the Afghan regime.
