ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will consider a ceasefire with Afghanistan “over” even if a single cross-border attack occurred inside Pakistan, the Pakistani military said on Monday, with the two sides due to meet again in Istanbul this week.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have surged in recent months following an uptick in attacks, mainly by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) inside Pakistan. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering the TTP, an allegation Kabul denies.
The two countries engaged in fierce fighting last month after Pakistan hit what it called TTP-affiliated targets in Afghanistan. Both sides reached a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19 and are due to meet in Istanbul on Nov. 6 to finalize a vigilance mechanism, but Pakistani military officials say their patience is "wearing thin."
Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, a Pakistani military spokesperson, toldnangroup of journalists in Rawalpindi that the country’s armed forces had eliminated 1,667 militants so far this year, including "128 Afghan nationals," while 582 army personnel had been killed during the anti-militancy operations.
“If even a single terrorist incident happens in Pakistan from Afghan soil [now], the ceasefire will be considered over,” Sharif said adding that up to 60 percent of "TTP infiltrators were Afghan nationals."
