Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, said on Monday the government would take Parliament into confidence over the airstrikes carried out by Pakistan inside Afghanistan, asserting that the country has the right to defend itself in the event of a terrorist attack.
Speaking in the House, the minister said that intelligence-based operations were recently conducted in three Afghan provinces, during which terrorist training camps were targeted. He added that Pakistan possesses credible and solid evidence linking terrorist activities inside the country to sanctuaries operating across the border.
Chaudhry said Islamabad had repeatedly informed Afghan authorities about the presence of terrorist training camps and infiltration from Afghan territory, but no effective action had been taken. He noted that the issue was also discussed during negotiations held in Doha, where, according to him, the Afghan side demanded Rs10 billion for the transfer of terrorist sanctuaries.
“Our only demand is that infiltration from Afghanistan must be stopped,” he said, adding that the Taliban had not even provided guarantees to end terrorism.
The minister told the House that the official government position on Pakistan’s military operation in Afghanistan had been presented in the Senate. He maintained that attacks in Tarlai, Bannu and Bajaur bore similarities suggesting links to elements based in Afghanistan.
He stressed that Pakistan’s defence had been secured through the sacrifices of its citizens and soldiers, warning that the country would respond to terrorism rather than “pick up bodies.”
Chaudhry said that terrorism was no longer confined to tribal areas but had spread across Pakistan, with terrorist organisations entering through the Pak-Afghan border and carrying out operations inside the country from safe havens in Afghanistan.
He added that Pakistan had identified these elements and shared the evidence with the Afghan government on multiple occasions, urging authorities in Kabul to take action against terrorist groups, including the TTP’s Fitna Khawarij, but lamented that no positive response had been received so far.
