Islamabad (GNP): Pakistan carried out precision aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, targeting sites used to launch and store drones involved in an attempted attack against Pakistan a day earlier, the government said.
The strikes followed the interception of eight drones launched from Afghan territory on 23 September. Pakistan’s air defence systems detected, tracked and neutralised all the intruding platforms before they could reach their intended targets, thwarting the attempt.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the retaliatory strikes were deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate, and strictly limited to military objectives directly linked to the attack.
Tarar said Pakistan had for years conveyed its concerns to the Afghan Taliban regime and its interlocutors over the continued presence of terrorist sanctuaries and support networks on Afghan soil.
He said that instead of dismantling these networks and taking credible, verifiable action against groups using Afghan territory to carry out terrorism against Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban regime had chosen to escalate the situation through hostile drone operations.
The government said Pakistan would neither accept nor tolerate attacks launched from Afghan territory, whether carried out by terrorist groups or by the Afghan Taliban regime itself.
Also Read: PM Reaffirms Commitment to Strengthening EU Partnership
Tarar warned that any violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty would be met with an immediate and decisive response, and that threats, denials or attempts to shift responsibility would not alter the facts or limit Pakistan’s right to defend its territory, people and national security.
Despite the strikes, Pakistan said it was not seeking escalation and remained committed to regional peace, dialogue and constructive engagement, though this commitment should not be mistaken for
weakness.Islamabad called on the Afghan Taliban regime to immediately halt all hostile activity against Pakistan and to take effective, concrete and sustained action against terrorist entities operating from its soil, adding that Afghan territory must not be used to launch attacks or conduct hostile operations against Pakistan.
Attaullah Tarar said, “Any violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty will be met with an immediate and decisive response.”
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
