US calls on Pakistan to exercise restraint after its airstrikes in Afghanistan

Washington, DC [US]: Reacting to Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan, the US has called on Taliban to ensure that terrorist attacks are not launched from Afghan soil while urging Islamabad to exercise restraint and ensure civilians are not harmed in their counter-terrorism efforts, US Department of State Principal Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday (local time).

While addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, Patel urged the Taliban to ensure that terrorist attacks are not launched from Afghan soil. He stressed that the US remains committed to ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for terrorists who wish to harm the US and its allies.

Asked about Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan, Vedant Patel responded, “We have seen the reports that Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to the attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan on Saturday at a military post. We deeply regret the loss of life and injustices sustained during the attack in Pakistan and the loss of civilian lives during the strike in Afghanistan.”

“We urge the Taliban to ensure that terrorist attacks are not launched from Afghan soil and urge Pakistan to exercise restraint and ensure civilians are not harmed in their counter-terrorism efforts and we urge both sides to address any differences. We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists who wish to harm the United States and our partners and allies,” he added.

Vedant Patel’s statement comes after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Khost and Paktia provinces of Afghanistan which claimed the lives of eight people including children and women. Taliban asserted that such airstrikes are a clear violation of Afghanistan’s territory, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported.

In response to a question about whether the US is helping Pakistan in the operations and intelligence sharing, Patel said, “We are in regular communication with Pakistani leaders to discuss Afghanistan in detail, including through our counter-terrorism dialogue and other bilateral consultations.”

Calling loss of civilian life “troubling and heartbreaking” to the US, Vedant Patel stressed that the US wants to ensure that perpetrators are being held to account and that civilians are not affected during these operations.

On being asked whether Pakistan should not have carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan, he said, “Any loss of civilian life is troubling and heartbreaking to us. so we want to make sure that when some of these operations are being conducted that every step possible is being taken that it’s the perpetrators that are being held to account and that it’s not civilian who is are being impacted.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Office has confirmed that Pakistan carried out “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” inside the border regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. According to Pakistan’s Foreign Office press release, the prime targets of the operation carried out on Monday were terrorists belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group.

It said that Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group along with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, resulting in “deaths of hundreds of civilians and law enforcement officials”, according to Dawn report. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said that the latest attack of such an instance took place at a security post in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali on Saturday, which claimed the lives of seven Pakistani soldiers.

After Pakistan’s airstrikes, Taliban-led Ministry of Defence stated that any violation of the country’s sovereignty would have bad consequences, according to TOLO News report.

“Once again, Pakistani military and reconnaissance jets have entered Afghanistan’s territory and bombarded the homes of civilians in Barmal of Paktika and Spera of Khost,” the Taliban said in a statement.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid warned that any infringement on Afghanistan’s sovereignty would have dire repercussions.