Asif slams Kabul’s mixed stance of threats, talks

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday criticised the Taliban-led Interim Afghan Government’s mixed approach of issuing threats and, on the other hand, calling for talks.

Asif’s remarks come against the backdrop of heightened tensions along the frontier and follow a series of cross-border incidents. In the border skirmishes, Pakistani forces killed more than 200 Afghan Taliban and affiliated terrorists in self-defence action responding to an unprovoked overnight attack by the Taliban forces and India-backed terrorists, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Speaking on Geo News’ programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath”, Asif questioned Kabul’s credibility following its foreign minister’s statement amid the recent Pakistan-Afghanistan escalation.

The defence czar said a state has the right to respond when it is attacked and insisted that Pakistan did not target civilian populations but instead destroyed militant hideouts and sanctuaries.

He warned that Afghanistan’s soil has become a haven for various terrorist organisations. The minister stressed that safeguarding the country’s borders is a federal responsibility, not a provincial one, though he welcomed cooperation from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government if it wished to assist.

He also said that the issue of Afghan refugee repatriation falls to the federal government, which will determine policy and exercise the authority to return undocumented individuals where appropriate.