Days after Pakistan struck proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targets in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that Islamabad does not seek a “armed conflict” with Kabul.
“Force is a last resort.” “We don’t want an armed conflict with Afghanistan,” Asif told the Voice of America.
The defense minister’s words come as the neighboring countries’ already difficult bilateral relations have deteriorated due to increased terrorist strikes by the TTP and other proscribed outfits based in Afghanistan on Pakistani soil.
On Monday, Pakistan carried out intelligence-based operations (IBOs) targeting TTP’s Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group which is responsible for the March 16 attack in Mir Ali, North Waziristan and many other terrorist incidents in the country.
Islamabad’s action followed a devastating attack on Pakistani forces, which claimed the lives of seven soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and a captain.
Pakistan has frequently urged the Afghan interim government to prevent the TTP and other militant outfits from using its soil against it, a claim that Kabul categorically denies.
