ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif said Afghanistan’s Taliban government hosted senior figures from Terrorist groups with differing ideological objectives for talks on escalating attacks inside Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the meeting took place in Kandahar on August 26.
According to Sharif, those represented included the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the South Asian affiliate of the global militant network, and the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a designated terrorist group by Pakistan.
Sharif said the Taliban government was “abetting and sponsoring terrorism” and said Pakistan would take the measures necessary to protect its citizens.
His remarks came hours after Pakistan said it had carried out airstrikes in two Afghan provinces. The strikes targeted terrorists’ hideouts at two locations, with initial reports indicating that 22 militants had been killed, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said.
The ministry said Pakistan had taken maximum precautions to prevent civilian casualties, describing the targets as terrorist hubs. The ministry said the operation would continue as part of Pakistan’s broader counter-terrorism campaign.
The intelligence report on the Kandahar meeting said BLA representatives told participants that Pakistani military operations had left the group short of fighters and resources.
It said that Afghan intelligence officials assured them that militants associated with the TTP and AQIS would provide fighters, weapons and logistical support for attacks in Balochistan.
Pakistan has faced a surge in militant violence, much of it blamed on the TTP and Baloch separatist groups. Pakistan has repeatedly pointed out that terrorist groups based in Afghanistan carry out attacks inside the country, and it has demanded that the Afghan authorities prevent their territory from being used against Pakistan.
According to security officials, the surgical strikes were carried out on a BLA facility in Helmand, Afghanistan
On 1 October 26, at 0445 hours, surgical strikes were conducted by Pakistan on a compound that housed BLA’s Media Operations Centre.
The compound was located in Safar, Garmser District, Helmand, Afghanistan, the officials added.
Shirwan Baloch, Huzaifa Baloch, Farooq Baloch and Hazrat Baloch, the BLA terrorist commanders who were responsible for media operations, were eliminated, and the BLA Media Centre was fully destroyed, the officials added.
“Since these terrorists were using their families as human shields, a couple of their close relatives were also killed,” the officials said.
According to the officials, the compound that was struck belonged to Mula Nader, an Afghan Taliban Commander who serves in the Taliban Border Force in Nimroz Province and is a key facilitator of the BLA in Helmand and Nimroz Provinces. At least nine BLA terrorists were killed.
