KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned a senior Taliban diplomat in Islamabad to protest a deadly attack on a military installation in the country’s northwest that killed four Pakistani soldiers, the ministry said on Friday.
In a statement, the ministry said it called in the Taliban’s deputy head of mission after militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security headquarters in the Boya area of North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan.
The ministry said the attack was carried out by militants linked to the Gul Bahadur Group, which it described as a faction of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, that Pakistan says operates from Afghan territory.
Pakistan lodged what it called a strong protest with the Taliban diplomat and demanded a full investigation as well as decisive action against those responsible for planning, facilitating and carrying out attacks against Pakistan from across the border.
“The Ministry conveyed Pakistan’s grave concern over the continued support and facilitation provided by the Afghan Taliban regime to the FAK/TTP, enabling them to carry out terrorist attacks against Pakistan Military and civilian population along the Pak-Afghan border and in adjoining areas,” the statement reads.
The ministry urged the Taliban to take immediate, concrete and verifiable measures against all armed groups operating from Afghan soil, including their leadership, and to ensure that Afghan territory is not used for attacks against Pakistan.
“The Afghan Taliban regime has also been categorically informed that Pakistan reserves the right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens, and will take all necessary measures to respond to terrorism originating from Afghan soil,” the ministry stated.
According to the Pakistani military, the blast early on Friday caused the outer wall of the security compound to collapse and damaged nearby civilian structures, including a mosque. It said four soldiers were killed in the attack and that at least 15 civilians, including women and children, were wounded. Security forces later killed four militants, the military said.
There was no immediate response from the Taliban to Pakistan’s statements or to the summoning of its diplomat.
Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have deteriorated in recent months amid a series of attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad has blamed on militant groups based in Afghanistan, a charge the Taliban have previously denied.
Tensions escalated further in October after border clashes followed explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9, which the Taliban blamed on Pakistan. Qatar later helped broker a ceasefire, but subsequent talks hosted by Turkey and Saudi Arabia failed to produce a lasting agreement between the two sides.
Border crossings between the two countries remain closed, disrupting trade and the movement of people, as diplomatic and security tensions between the neighbors continue.
