New Delhi: India on Monday “unequivocally” condemned Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan and said it is Islamabad’s old practice to blame its neighbours for its internal failures.
Pakistan carried out airstrikes in certain areas in Afghanistan in what it said was aimed at targeting some terrorist hideouts.
“We have noted the media reports on airstrikes on Afghan civilians, including women and children, in which several precious lives have been lost. We unequivocally condemn any attack on innocent civilians,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“It is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures. We have also noted the response of an Afghan spokesperson in this regard,” he said. (Agencies)
An Afghan Taliban spokesman said on December 25 that the foreign ministry in Kabul summoned the Pakistani charge d’affaires to lodge a protest over the air strikes. The Taliban also pointed out that the assault was carried out while Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, was in Kabul for official talks.
The Pakistani military’s “aggression against Afghanistan” amounted to a violation of sovereignty and an “attempt to create mistrust in the relations between the two countries”, the Taliban spokesman said.
Pakistani officials said the air strikes targeted the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has been using Afghanistan as a base to carry out attacks on Pakistani security forces. According to a United Nations Security Council report, an estimated 6,000 TTP fighters are in Afghanistan.
Taliban leaders have denied these allegations and described the TTP as Pakistan’s internal issue. They have also contended that Pakistan has supported Islamist movements for a long time and is facing the consequences of such actions within its borders.
Following the retaliatory attacks on December 28, the Taliban’s defence ministry said its forces targeted Pakistani points that “served as centres and hideouts for malicious elements and their supporters who organised and coordinated attacks in Afghanistan”.