ISLAMABAD ( WNAM MONITORING): Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned an Afghan diplomat over a recent terrorist attack in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border that killed 11 soldiers, according to an official statement issued Thursday.
The ministry called in the Afghan deputy head of mission in Islamabad on Wednesday and delivered a “strong demarche” to Kabul over the Feb. 16 attack in Bajaur district, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said.
“Pakistan condemned in the strongest possible terms the vehicle-borne suicide terrorist attack followed by a fire raid on a Pakistan military and law enforcement agencies’ post in Bajaur, carried out by Fitna al Khwarij / TTP,” Andrabi said.
Pakistani officials refer to the militants as “Khwarij.”
Islamabad also conveyed its “serious concern” that the TTP and its entire leadership “are based in Afghanistan and operate with impunity” from Afghan soil, the spokesman said.
“The Afghan Taliban regime has also been categorically informed that Pakistan reserves the right to respond and eliminate any Khwarij belonging to the FAK group along with their affiliates, wherever they are located, to ensure the safety of its soldiers, civilians and territorial boundaries,” he added.
No immediate reaction was reported from Kabul regarding Pakistan’s statement or the summoning of its diplomat.
Authorities in Kabul have consistently denied the presence of TTP militants in Afghanistan, saying they will not allow anyone to use Afghan territory against Pakistan or any other country.
On Tuesday, Pakistani officials said 11 security personnel and a child were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden vehicle before ramming it into a security checkpoint in Bajaur. Security forces later killed 12 militants following the blast.
