Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Afghanistan's Chargé d'Affaires in Islamabad to deliver the country's strong demarche after a deadly attack that killed 23 soldiers in restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province earlier today. Notably, the Tehreek-e-Jihad (TJP), affiliated with Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack, reported Geo News.
“The attack[‘s] responsibility has been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a terrorist group affiliated with the TTP,” Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement. Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi called on the envoy to immediately convey to the Afghan interim government to properly investigate and take stern action in the matter.
Qazi also demanded the Afghan government to publicly condemn the deadly incident at the highest level, and take immediate verifiable actions against all terrorist groups in their territory - including their leadership and sanctuaries.
Pakistan contemplating strong retaliation
“[They] should also take all necessary measures to deny the persistent use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan,” the statement added while mentioning that the incident is yet another reminder of the "terrorist threat" to Pakistan.
Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic spike in militant attacks, mainly in its border regions with Afghanistan, since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, especially from the TTP, which shares a similar ideological base and has been said to have taken refuge on Afghan soil.
Meanwhile, The Express Tribune newspaper reported that Pakistan is contemplating a serious retaliation in response to today's attack in Dera Ismail Khan, the deadliest against security forces in several years. "Pakistan will not let go the perpetrators of this heinous attack unpunished," a source familiar with the development.
What happened in the attack?
According to the police, terrorists attacked the Daraban police station in a remote part of the unruly Dera Ismail Khan district bordering the South Waziristan tribal district. The terrorists rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the building of the police station, which was followed by a mortar attack.
The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country. The group, which is believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
Earlier in January this year, TTP militants unleashed an explosion in a crowded mosque inside a highly secured police compound in the city of Peshawar, resulting in the killing of at least 100 security personnel. However, while Pakistan has stated that hostile groups operate from "sanctuaries" across the border, the Taliban government routinely denies the charges.
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