Kabul, Dec 26: Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday issued a stern warning to Pakistan, urging Islamabad to learn the lessons of history before targetting Afghanistan.
“Afghans will not forget the invasion of their territory, and Pakistani rulers should adopt a measured policy,” several reports quoted Muttaqi as saying on Thursday afternoon during an event marking the 45th anniversary of the Soviet invasion. During his speech, the foreign minister warned Pakistan to “learn from the fate of the Soviet Union and the United States”, emphasising that Afghanistan will never accept invasions.
He also reportedly called on the people of Pakistan to stop their rulers’ wrong policies. Muttaqi’s strong reaction came less than 48 hours after Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan that killed 46 people, including several women and children on Tuesday night.
The airstrikes by Pakistani fighter jets on parts of Barmal district in Paktika province was the second instance this year of Islamabad directly hitting “civilian areas” on Afghan territory. In March, a similar strike had killed eight people, including three children. Islamabad’s action has triggered a massive condemnation from people in the war-torn country and the Taliban regime even as several analysts in Pakistan also reckon that the move is fraught with risks.
Enayatullah Khwarazmi, the spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, stated on Wednesday that Pakistan must realise such arbitrary actions do not solve any problems. “The Islamic Emirate considers this brutal act a violation of all international principles and an outright aggression, and strongly condemns it. The Pakistani side must understand that such arbitrary actions are not a solution to any problem,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Afghan news outlet Tolo news.
Hamid Karzai, the former President of Afghanistan, while condemning the airstrikes of the Pakistani military forces in the “strongest terms”, called it a blatant aggression and violation of Afghan sovereignty. Karzai said the tension in relations between the two countries was the product of Pakistan’s wrong policies of strengthening extremism in the region and trying to weaken Afghanistan.
He warned that civilized relations based on good neighbourliness would be in the interest of both countries. Hafiz Zia Ahmad, Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul, was also called to the Afghan foreign ministry and issued a strong demarche.
While there has been no official reaction from the Pakistan government or the military establishment on the airstrikes, the local media insists that the action was in response to a recent surge in 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 employed to send the message to Kabul that while Islamabad is ready to talk, it is also willing to strike at anti-Pakistan terrorists inside Afghanistan if the Taliban fail to act,” stated an editorial in Pakistani Daily ‘Dawn’ on Thursday.
IANS