Kabul, December 26 (IANS): Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday issued a stern warning to Pakistan, urging Islamabad to learn lessons from history before targeting Afghanistan.
Muttaqi’s strong response came less than 48 hours after Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan that killed 46 people, including several women and children, on Tuesday evening.
The airstrikes by Pakistani fighter jets on parts of Barmal district in Paktika province marked the second time this year that Islamabad has directly hit “civilian areas” in Afghan territory. In March, a similar strike killed eight people, including three children.
Islamabad’s move has drawn widespread condemnation from people in the war-torn country and the Taliban regime, while several analysts in Pakistan also believe the move is fraught with risks.
Enayatullah Khwarazmi, the spokesperson of the Afghan Defense Ministry, said on Wednesday that Pakistan should realize that such arbitrary actions do not solve any problem.
“The Islamic Emirate considers and strongly condemns this brutal act as a violation of all international principles and outright aggression. The Pakistani side must understand that such arbitrary actions are not a solution to any problem,” the spokesperson said. news broadcast Tolo news.
Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, condemned the airstrikes by Pakistani forces in the “strongest terms” but called it a blatant aggression and violation of Afghan sovereignty.
Karzai said the tension in relations between the two countries is the product of Pakistan’s wrong policies to strengthen extremism in the region and weaken Afghanistan.
He warned that civil relations based on good neighborly relations would be in the interests of both countries.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad, the Pakistani charge d’affaires in Kabul, was also called to the Afghan Foreign Ministry and made a strong demarche.
Although there has been no official response from the Pakistani government or military establishment to the airstrikes, local media insist that the action was in response to a recent wave of TTP-sponsored terrorist attacks, including the recent attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that resulted in the death of 16 Pakistani soldiers.
“Perhaps this seemingly paradoxical approach has been used to send the message to Kabul that while Islamabad is willing to talk, it is also willing to attack anti-Pakistani terrorists in Afghanistan if the Taliban fail to act,” said one editorial in the Pakistani Daily. ‘Dawn’ on Thursday.