ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday said the nation was indebted to 10 soldiers who were killed in two separate terrorist attacks along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan and Balochistan.
In the first incident, six Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in shootings by terrorists from across the Afghan border at a patrolling party near Gurbaz area of North Waziristan district. In the second incident, four armed forces personnel were killed when militants opened fire at a contingent of Frontier Corps Balochistan troops during a combing/sensitisation operation between Hushab and Turbat area.
“Their sacrifice along with the sacrifices of thousands of our soldiers continue to fortify our resolve to defeat terrorism,” the foreign minister tweeted.
Qureshi also paid tribute to one of those killed.
“I want to show the world the face of a young officer Captain Aaqib Javed martyred today who was meant to get married on the 24th of August,” he tweeted along with pictures.
Qureshi also said it was time to move forward cautiously without knee-jerk reactions.
“At this time, we have to move forward very prudently. Surely, there will be some forces wanting Pakistan to react and make abrupt decisions out of emotions. This is not the time to make emotional decisions,” the foreign minister said while talking to a private TV channel.
Qureshi said the whole nation was paying tribute to the soldiers who were killed in the incidents and that such cowardly attacks could not deter the national resolve against terrorism.
Asked whether the attacks had anything to do with regional events such as Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the US, the International Court of Justice decision on Kulbhushan Jadhav and the peace dialogue in Afghanistan, the foreign minister said: “You cannot rule out anything.”
“We have not to level allegations in unnecessary haste too. We are a responsible nation. We go into details of the matter and investigate. We don’t blame the people baselessly,” Qureshi said.
Asked if there was any discussion with the Afghan leadership to investigate the attack, the foreign minister said the two countries had military level cooperation and the national security institutions would be in contact or could make contact to discuss the matter.
