News
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Pakistan steps up row over Afghan border attacks* ISPR says five ‘major attacks’ launched from Afghanistan killed 55 paramilitary and pro-government tribal militiamen in a month
* Says around 250-300 terrorists crossed over and assaulted border posts in Pakistan
* Rejects Afghan allegations army had fired 470 rockets into Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, on Monday, said that five “major attacks” launched from Afghanistan had killed 55 security personnel in a month, stepping up a row with Kabul over cross-border attacks.
Afghanistan last week expressed serious concern about Pakistani artillery shelling, saying that four children were killed last Thursday and warning that attacks from Pakistan could harm “improving trust and cooperation”. Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Athar Abbas said he could not rule out that a “few accidental rounds” could have been fired across the border by security forces targeting fleeing terrorists, but said Pakistan had also suffered.
“In the last month, there have been five major attacks from Afghan side of the border where 250-300 terrorists crossed over and assaulted our border posts in Dir, Mohmand and Bajaur,” he said. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 55 paramilitary and pro-government tribal militiamen and wounded 80 others, Abbas said. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been strained over mutual accusations of responsibility over militants fighting against both governments, particularly in the porous border area.
Pakistan on Monday denied accusations by Afghanistan that it fired hundreds of rockets into two eastern Afghan provinces over the past three weeks, killing 36 people, including 12 children. Maj. Athar Abbas said no rounds have been intentionally fired into Afghanistan. He said it is possible that a few rounds may have accidentally fallen into Afghanistan when security forces targeted terrorists carrying out cross-border attacks into Pakistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused Pakistan of firing 470 rockets into the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar and said “they should be stopped immediately.” And “if they are not being carried out by Pakistan, Pakistan should make it clear who is behind the attacks,” he said in a statement issued by the presidential palace. The Pakistani army has said the recent cross-border attacks came from Kunar, an area where NATO has recently withdrawn many of its combat troops.
Karzai said he discussed the rocket barrage with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zadari during an anti-terrorism conference in Tehran on Saturday, the same day the Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman spoke of the attacks and warned that Afghanistan would defend itself. “The government of Pakistan should understand that there will be a reaction for killing Afghan citizens,” said spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday said that Pakistan sincerely desires for peace and stability in the region to ensure development and prosperity. It is in this context, he said, Pakistan supports the Afghan-led reconciliation peace process. The PM was talking to Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir at the Prime Minister’s House who called on him to seek his guidance on upcoming trilateral core group meeting taking place in Kabul today (Tuesday). The foreign secretary briefed the PM on the bilateral agreement on joint commission between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which would be held in Kabul after trilateral core group meeting. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Gilani on Monday. The two leaders exchanged views on US-Pakistan bilateral relations and the upcoming trilateral core group meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan and US.
Separately, the Tripartite Commission comprising senior military representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and coalition forces in Afghanistan, held a meeting on Monday in Kabul. Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of the Afghan General Staff General Sher Mahammed Karimi, and General David Petreaus, commander of International Security Assistance Force, headed the respective delegations, said an ISPR press release. The meeting reviewed the current security situation along the Pak-Afghan border. Measures to improve effectiveness of ongoing operations in the respective areas also came under discussion. Steps for better coordination and enhanced cooperation to avoid misunderstandings as regard to the border security were also discussed, it further said. The forum expressed the resolve and commitment to restore peace and stability in the area. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk