Banned terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban vows vengeance after Pakistan airstrikes in Afghanistan

New Delhi: The banned terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has warned Pakistan that their fighters are going to avenge the killing of innocent Afghans in air strikes in Khost and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the group said Pakistan had carried out airstrikes in Kunar, Khost, Bajaur and Waziristan to cover up its humiliation and failure, and killed hundreds of people, including women and children. The TTP has vowed to take revenge and also has called on the Pakistani people to stand up against the Pakistan’s military and the ISI.

In a tweet, he said: “The Pakistani forces could not fight TTP and targeting civilians to cover up their failure, we request Pak army to fight face to face with TTP.”

According to local authorities, the heavy air strikes in the Spera district of Khost province, killed 33 members of two families.

Following the air raids, following which The Taliban foreign ministry had summoned the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul on Sunday. During the meeting, the Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and the deputy defense minister Alhaj Mullah Shirin Akhund warned the envoy that “the Pakistani side (should) not to test the patience of Afghans on such issues and not repeat the same mistake again otherwise it will have bad consequences.”

“We are trying our best to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels and negotiations. Such acts will create tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan which will lead to conflicts that are in favour of no one,” Khaama Press quoted the chief spokesperson of the Taliban regime Zabiullah Mujahid as saying.

The Pakistani air force had targeted areas in Khost & Kunar provinces of Afghanistan in the wee hours of Sunday and they attacked many areas of Kunar, Bajaur, Khost, Paktika and Waziristan killing scores, including women and children.

Pakistan has not commented on its air strikes but Pakistani media had reported that strikes were on the TTP camps inside Afghanistan.

“They (Pakistan) are telling lies. These are the refugee camps where mostly women and children are there. It was 3:00 am, when the bombing started. The homes were destroyed, around 40 people including women and children were killed and wounded,” TOLO news quoted local residents as saying.

Anti-Pakistan sentiments are high in the regions along the disputed Afghanistan and Pakistan border defined by the Durand Line. Hundreds of Afghans gathered in Khost, chanting “Death to Pakistan” to protest Pakistan military’s airstrikes.

Many Afghan diplomats feel that the reactions of Taliban rulers have been soft.

“The atrocities by the rogue military of Pakistan across Afghanistan first by enabling Taliban to topple our democracy and destroy our service-delivery infrastructure and now directly carrying out airstrikes in the Afghan territory must see punitive action under the UN Charter,” Afghan ambassador to Sri Lanka M Ashraf Haidari said in his post.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, there have been numerous standoffs along the 2,600 km border with Pakistan.

Increasingly frustrated by continuing militant attacks, Pakistan’s military has stepped up operations along the Afghan border in recent months. Pakistan has been asking the Taliban rulers to hand over the TTP leaders but the Taliban have refused.

The Pakistani army has publicly accused the Taliban government of giving shelter to terrorists who are carrying out attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil.

“Pakistan is running out of patience with the interim Taliban government,” Express Tribune quoted its army sources as saying.

(IANS)