Quetta: Balochistan Caretaker Information Minister Jan Achakzai on Wednesday reportedly proposed offering drone bases to the United States after a deadly suicide bombing that martyred over two dozen sol-diers of the Pakistan Army.
A day earlier, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, had reported that a group of six terrorists targeted a security forces’ check post in the Daraban general area in the DI Khan district in the early hours of Tuesday.
The assailants attempted to breach the post, leading to a thwarted attack that culminated in an explo-sive-laden vehicle being rammed into the post, followed by a suicide bombing.
The military’s media wing stated, “The resulting blasts led to the collapse of the building, causing multi-ple casualties; 23 brave soldiers embraced shahadat, while all six terrorists were effectively engaged and sent to hell.” The Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), affiliated with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack.
Achakzai said the DI Khan attack on Tuesday has “crossed all the national security redlines of Pakistan.”
His seven “counterterrorism proposals” included reprisal attacks in Afghanistan, closure of borders, return of Afghan refugees and gathering of “political opposition” of the Afghan Taliban in Islamabad.
He proposed Islamabad offer drone bases to target Al-Qaeda and other militants’ alleged sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
The US carried out hundreds of drone attacks on the country’s tribal belt near Afghanistan’s border from 2004 to 2018, killing thousands, mostly civilians.
Islamabad publicly opposed the drone attacks, terming them a violation of its sovereignty. Many, however, believe Washington had tacit support from Islamabad for the drone strikes.
“Send out a message to Afghan Taliban: We will no longer tolerate any double game. Enough is enough,” said Achakzai.
Following the attack, Pakistan’s foreign secretary summoned the chargé d’affaires of the interim Af-ghan government, delivering a strong demarche. The chargé d’affaires was urged to conduct a thor-ough investigation, take action against perpetrators, publicly condemn the incident, and hand over TTP leadership in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s foreign secretary stated, “Today’s terrorist attack is yet another reminder of the terrorist threat to peace and stability in the region. We must act resolutely with all our collective might to de-feat this menace. On its part, Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to combat terrorism.”
Meanwhile, sources suggested that Pakistan was considering “drastic and decisive” actions against the responsible terrorist group.
The DI Khan attack occurred despite Pakistan’s previous warning to the Afghan Taliban to control ter-rorist sanctuaries. Pakistan had communicated that any future attacks linked to Afghanistan would re-sult in a robust response.
While Pakistan has not disclosed specific retaliatory measures, sources indicated that cross-border strikes and drone attacks targeting terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan are under consideration. Islama-bad views the DI Khan attack as a serious provocation, vowing to ensure that those responsible face consequences.
Pakistan has consistently urged the Afghan government to take action against the TTP and its affiliates.
Earlier in the day, the Afghan Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, announced that the interim Afghan government is open to investigating the attack, asserting that the Pakistani military should have prevented such incidents on its territory.
In response to Pakistan’s call for an investigation, Mujahid told Reuters, “If they ask for an investiga-tion, if they share the details with us, we will do the investigation”. –Agencies
