The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Pakistan remains committed to
combating terrorism and maintaining regional peace but will not compromise on
the security of its citizens, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said
Monday, as Islamabad summoned Afghanistan’s chargé d’affaires over a recent
militant attack in Karachi that Pakistani authorities say involved Afghan
nationals.
Andrabi said Pakistan lodged a formal protest with the
Afghan envoy in Islamabad and delivered a similar démarche through its
ambassador in Kabul following Saturday's attack on a Pakistan Rangers (Sindh)
camp in Karachi.
According to Pakistan’s military, militants from
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar carried out the coordinated assault, killing three Rangers
personnel and wounding four others. Security forces said they killed three
attackers during the operation and arrested an injured Afghan national
suspected of involvement.
Andrabi said Pakistani authorities believe the participation
of Afghan nationals in the attack demonstrates that Afghan territory and citizens
continue to be used to facilitate militant attacks inside Pakistan, an
allegation Islamabad has repeatedly raised with the Taliban administration.
He said the Afghan chargé d’affaires was summoned on June 29
to receive Pakistan’s protest over the attack, while Pakistan’s ambassador in
Kabul presented an identical protest note to Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry.
Andrabi also said Pakistan’s Interior Ministry had
instructed authorities to detain Afghan nationals found living in the country
without valid visas or legal residency documents, adding that the directive
would be implemented immediately.
The Taliban authorities have consistently rejected
Pakistan’s accusations that Afghan territory is used to plan or launch attacks
against neighboring countries, saying they do not allow anyone to use
Afghanistan to threaten other states.
