Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry briefed the Senate on Monday on latest strikes focusing on terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan, stating that they had been carried out following a number of assaults by militants in Pakistan and saying that Islamabad “can’t tolerate this anymore”.
Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Afghanistan in a retaliatory operation late on Saturday evening, focusing on teams accountable for latest assaults in its territory.
The strikes had been performed in retaliation for a sequence of suicide assaults in Islamabad, Bajaurand Bannu that had claimed the lives of Pakistani safety personnel and civilians.
Mentioning these incidents, Chaudhry mentioned they had been “linked” to Afghanistan-based actors, including that it was subsequently determined to provide a “decisive response” to the neighboring nation.
“Consequently, our Air Power carried out strikes in three Afghan provinces, Paktika, Nangarhar and Khost on February 21,” he mentioned, including that there have been reviews of the deaths of over 100 militants who “managed terrorist networks” within the operation.
He mentioned the February 21 strikes had been “exact” and “intelligence-based”.
The minister insisted that they solely focused terrorists’ hideouts and coaching camps. He dispelled what he described as “false propaganda of civilians, mosques and seminaries getting hit” through the strikes.
Chaudhry warned that if terrorist assaults in Pakistan from Afghan soil continued, Pakistan reserved the fitting to hold out strikes in its protection.
“We aren’t supposed to simply attend funerals. The civilian management and armed forces are resolute that this can’t be tolerated anymore,” he asserted.
He mentioned, “Each drop of blood of our martyrs, be they from the safety forces or civilians, might be avenged. Each nook of the nation might be defended.”
