Key Points
- When every terrorist suddenly becomes a civilian–Mujahid’s propaganda exposed
- Terrorist hideouts targeted in Afghanistan
- Pakistan rejects civilian-only portrayal
- Fitnat al- Khawarij networks using family compounds
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected the portrayal of casualties from recent strikes in Afghanistan as exclusively civilian, saying terrorist operatives and their networks have been using Afghan territory, including residential compounds, as hideouts and safe havens.
Security sources said Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid had released pictures and accounts showing women and children among those killed. However, no images of adult male members of the targeted terrorist networks had been presented.
The sources said the absence of adult male terrorists from such accounts raises questions about the portrayal of the targeted locations and the identities of those killed.
They said members of Fitna al-Khawarij (FAK), the terrorist network blamed for attacks against Pakistan, operate from Afghan territory and use hideouts and safe houses to plan and facilitate attacks.
According to the Pakistani position, the presence of families at or near terrorist hideouts does not change the nature of the terrorist infrastructure being targeted.
The sources said terrorists operating from Afghanistan have weapons, support networks and operational links used against Pakistan.
Taliban trying to shift attention from terrorists
The sources also said attempts to portray terrorists killed in strikes as civilians were aimed at shifting attention from the presence of terrorist networks on Afghan soil.
Pakistan has repeatedly maintained that terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan pose a direct security threat and that their infrastructure and support networks must be dismantled to prevent attacks inside Pakistan.
The latest exchange comes amid continuing tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban authorities over the presence and activities of terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory.
