Pakistan denies strikes on Afghanistan

Islamabad: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry refuted allegations by the Afghan Taliban on Tuesday that Pakistan had conducted overnight strikes in Afghanistan, state media reported.

The statement by the head of the military’s media wing came hours after the Afghan Taliban spokesperson accused Pakistan of attacks in Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces.

According to state broadcaster Pakistan TV, the military spokesperson refuted the claims of conducting strikes inside Afghanistan. “Pakistan Army has not attacked civilians inside Afghanistan,” it quoted him as saying.

“Whenever Pakistan attacks someone, it announces it,” he said, according to local media.

“In our view, there are no good and bad Taliban,” he said, adding that there was “no distinction” between terrorists.

“The Taliban government should make decisions as a state, not as non-state actors,” said Gen Chaudhry. He also wondered how long the current set-up in Afghanistan would remain an interim one.

Pakistan’s bilateral relations with Afghanistan have come under strain in recent times as the banned terrorist Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group remains the main point of contention between the two countries.

Pakistan has demanded that the rulers in Kabul take action to stop cross-border terrorism, but the Afghan Taliban deny Islamabad’s allegations of terrorists being allowed to use Afghan soil to carry out attacks in Pakistan.