Pakistan has a right to defend itself from terrorism, said Ned Price, the US State Department spokesperson.
Briefing the newsmen in Washington, Ned Price said that the United States was aware of the Pakistani National Security Committee statement and concerns over terrorism.
He said, “The Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks.”
Ned Price said that the United States will continue to call on the Taliban to uphold the commitment that Afghan soil will never again be used as a launchpad for international terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, Afghan government appeared upset after recent statements of the National Security Committee of Pakistan and federal ministers about the use of Afghan soil for terrorist attacks against Pakistan.
Afghan Taliban chief spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, “We want better relations with all our neighbours, including Pakistan.”
In its recent meetings, the National Security Committee of Pakistan headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, asked the Taliban government (without naming it) not to provide sanctuaries to Pakistani terrorist groups on its soil.
In recent months, Pakistan has reported a sharp increase in terror incidents, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, after Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also said that cross-border attacks are taking place from Afghanistan.
He said that terrorists are using Afghanistan to carry out attack against Pakistan.
Speaking in a TV programme on Monday night, minister said that the Afghan government promised Islamabad that they would not allow anyone to use their land against Pakistan.
He said “The Pakistani government is in constant touch with Afghanistan in connection with border violations.”
He said that in a recent briefing, General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and General (retd) Faiz Hameed gave a briefing to the the National Assembly about the Pak-Afghan talks and their subsequent developments. He, nevertheless, said the talks did not produce any positive results.
Defence Minister revealed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province recorded 58% of all terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, after KP province, Balochistan faced the most attacks while Sindh and Punjab reported fewer attacks, he added.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
