ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday condemned “provocations” by Afghanistan in Pakistan’s border areas, vowing a “strong and effective response” to incursions in defense of his country.
Afghan troops opened fire on Pakistani border posts late Saturday, with the country’s ministry of defense saying this was in retaliation for alleged Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan this week. Afghan officials said dozens of Pakistani soldiers were killed in the clashes.
Security officials in Pakistan said they had captured 19 Afghan posts, from where attacks were carried out. Videos circulating on Pakistani media showed soldiers erecting Pakistan’s flag on a captured Afghan post. It could not be independently verified.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have had frosty relations since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Islamabad accuses authorities there of harboring militants carrying out strikes on its soil, an accusation Afghanistan denies.
“There will be no compromise on Pakistan’s defense, and every provocation will be given a strong and effective response,” Sharif said in a statement, accusing Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of allowing their land to be used by “terrorist elements.”
