ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Wednesday briefed President Asif Ali Zardari on the recent security situation arising from the “aggressive and provocative actions” of the Afghan Taliban regime, as well as the measured and befitting response by Pakistan Armed Forces.
During the meeting at the presidency, the Field Marshal briefed the President on the overall internal and external security environment of the country, said a press release issued by the media wing of the President’s Secretariat.
“President Zardari expressed full confidence in the strength, valour, capacity, and preparedness of Pakistan’s Armed Forces,” it said.
He praised the vigilance and professionalism of the armed forces in defending the nation’s frontiers and in swiftly repelling cross-border attacks along the Afghan border.
The President reaffirmed that Pakistan will defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs.
It may be recalled that Pakistan’s Army on Tuesday said it had “responded fiercely” to unprovoked firing by Afghan Taliban and banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists along the Pak-Afghan border in Kurram district, days after deadly cross-border clashes left dozens dead on both sides.
According to Pakistani security sources, Afghan Taliban and TTP terrorists based in Afghanistan opened unprovoked fire on Pakistani border posts on Tuesday night.
Pakistani troops stationed at the border posts returned fire “with full force,” targeting multiple Afghan Taliban positions across the border in Afghanistan, security sources said.
“The response inflicted heavy losses, destroying several firing posts and a Taliban tank,” security sources said, adding that the Taliban fighters were forced to retreat.
The latest aggression follows a major assault over the weekend, when Afghan Taliban fighters and allied terrorist groups launched coordinated attacks along multiple sectors of the Pak-Afghan border on the night of 11–12 October.
Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban to bar terrorist groups from using Afghanistan’s territory to attack Pakistan; however, the Afghan Taliban denies the allegations and claims Afghan soil is not used for attacks on neighbouring countries.
