ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army on Wednesday slammed the ‘unwarranted rhetoric of blames and suggestive allegations’ made by the Afghan Defence Ministry in response to the launch of Operation Khyber-4 in Rajgal Valley.
A report by the Ariana Television Network (ATN) had stated that the Afghan Defence Ministry, in response to the announcement of Khyber-4, had called for military operations in ‘terrorist centres placed in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta under the monitoring of the United States (US) and China’. Afghan Ministry of Defence Spokesman Dawlat Waziri had alleged, “Military operations need to be launched in both sides of the Durand Line. Everyone understand the [sic] terrorist centres are located in Pakistan; Quetta Council, Peshawar Council and Miranshah Council that are Taliban groups,” according to the ATN report.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a press release on Wednesday said the Afghan ministry’s response to Operation Khyber-4 was ‘unwarranted and runs counter to Pakistan Army’s efforts for better Pak-Afghan coordination and cooperation’. “The information about Operation Khyber-4 has been shared (twice verbally and in written) with Afghan Forces as well as Resolute Support Mission and [the United States’] Office of the Defence Representative Pakistan,” the army’s public relations wing stated.
ISPR added that the army anticipates trust-based security coordination and cooperation in the fight against their ‘common enemy’. The handout called for ‘rhetoric of blames and suggestive allegations’ to be avoided, terming them the ‘agenda of forces working against order and peace in the region’.
Published in Daily Times, July 20th , 2017.
