Islamabad: The Pakistani Army on Monday rejected Afghanistan's contention that it had fired hundreds of rockets into the Afghan territory killing many people, while launching a counter-attack blaming Kabul for failing to prevent cross-border raids that had killed 55 Pakistanis.
Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said claims by Afghan authorities were incorrect. He said there had been five "major attacks" launched from Afghanistan that had killed 55 Pakistani security personnel in a month.
"This is not true. No rounds have been fired into Afghanistan. In the last one month, there have been five major attacks from the Afghan side of the border, (during which) 250-300 terrorists crossed over and assaulted our border posts," Abbas said in an SMS message sent to the media.
Militants from Afghanistan entered Dir district in Pakistan's northwest, Mohmand and Bajaur tribal regions, killing 55 paramilitary and local militia personnel and injuring 80 more, he said.
"The fleeing militants were engaged by the security forces and a few accidental rounds going across cannot be ruled out," Abbas said.
A statement issued by the Afghan presidential palace on Sunday said that Pakistani forces fired 470 rockets into Afghanistan's border regions.
The statement said 36 people, including 12 children, had died after being hit by the rockets.
Afghan officials said the rockets landed in the eastern Kunar and Nangrahar provinces.
Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rassoul summoned Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq last week to formally protest the matter.
Afghan media has reported that the country's National Security Council had directed officials to urgently take up the issue of cross-border attacks with Pakistani officials.
The NSC gathered in the presidential palace on Sunday for a meeting chaired by President Hamid Karzai.
Karzai told the meeting he had discussed the issue with his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of an international conference on terrorism in Tehran, a statement from the presidential palace said.
He said he had asked Zardari to stop the attacks but the Pakistani leader had insisted that the attacks had not been carried out by his forces.
Karzai said Zardari had assured him he would launch an inquiry into the incident.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been strained since they traded charges about cross-border raids by militants in the porous border area.
Afghan and US officials say militants carrying out attacks in Afghanistan make use of bases in Pakistan.
Comments
0 comment