Pakistan condemns attacks against forces engaged in fencing border

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly condemned the “organised” attacks against security forces engaged in fencing the border from across Afghanistan following four Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers were martyred, while six others were injured, in an attack, during a fencing activity at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Zhob District, on Wednesday.

Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, while responding to media queries, said that Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad has been asked to convey Pakistan’s concerns to the relevant Afghan authorities to undertake effective measures against organised groups of terrorists operating from the Afghan soil.

He said that the Afghan authorities have also been asked to follow mutually agreed protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs) and avoid recurrence of such incidents in future.

Giving details of the incident, he said that on 5 May, 2021 at 0745 hours, around 20 terrorists carried out an attack on Pakistan fencing party in Zhob District using small arms and heavy weapons, which resulted in martyrdom of four Pakistani soldiers and serious injuries to six others.

“Pakistan strongly condemns such organised attacks and considers these detrimental to ongoing peace and stability along Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” he said.

The martyred soldiers were identified as Havaldar Noor Zaman, Sepoy Shakeel Abbas, Sepoy Ehsan Ullah, and Naik Sultan.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif also strongly condemned the cowardly attack against the security forces.

“Our brave FC soldiers laid down their lives today while defending the motherland at Pak-Afghan border. I strongly condemn this cowardly attack and send my heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. Prayers for the quick recovery of the injured,” Shehbaz Sharif stated in a tweet.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021