Pakistan Army expresses ‘serious concerns over TTP’s safe haven in Afghanistan’

Pakistan Army has expressed concerns about the “safe havens and liberty of action” available to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in neighbouring Afghanistan, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday.

“The involvement of Afghan nationals in acts of terrorism in Pakistan is another important concern that needs to be addressed,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

“Such attacks are intolerable and would elicit [an] effective response from the security forces of Pakistan.”

The statement comes days after 12 terrorists were martyred in two terrorist attacks against the Pakistani security forces in the Sui and Zhob areas of Balochistan.

The statement was issued after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir visited Quetta Garrison on Friday, where he was briefed on the recent terrorist attack in Zhob.

COAS Munir paid rich tribute to the martyrs and inquired after the injured soldiers at the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta. He lauded their services to the nation and appreciated their resolve.

“It is expected that the interim Afghan government would not allow the use of its soil to perpetrate terror against any country, in the real sense and in line with commitments made in the Doha Agreement,” said ISPR statement.

It read that operations against terrorists would continue “unabated,” and the armed forces shall not rest till the menace of terrorism was “rooted out” from the country.

Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorism-related incidents, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the outlawed TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.