ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday formally protested to the Afghan Taliban authorities over the recent terrorist attack on a Rangers camp in Karachi, accusing Afghan nationals of involvement in the assault.
In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the Afghan chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Pakistan conveyed a strong demarche regarding the incident.
At the same time, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, delivered an identical protest to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul.
The Foreign Office said the diplomatic action followed evidence that Afghan citizens, including one militant captured alive during the operation, were involved in the Karachi attack.
It maintained that the incident reinforced Pakistan’s longstanding concern that Afghan territory and Afghan nationals continue to be exploited by terrorist groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Meanwhile, security forces carried out an intelligence-based operation and precision strikes against terrorist hideouts near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killing 29 militants, according to official sources.
The operation came a day after heavily armed terrorists targeted a Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Johar area. Security personnel repelled the assault, killing three attackers and capturing a fourth suspect an Afghan national who was wounded during the exchange of fire.
The attack claimed the lives of three Rangers personnel, while four others were injured.
According to officials, the arrested suspect identified himself in a recorded confession as Usman Ali, a resident of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He claimed he entered Pakistan a week before the attack along with three accomplices Abdul Hadi, Janan, and Umar Farooq.
Usman Ali stated that Abdul Hadi, who he said was from Bajaur, was killed during the attack, while Janan allegedly hurled a grenade at the Rangers camp.
He further claimed to be affiliated with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and alleged that the group’s commander in Afghanistan was known as Ahrar Maulvi Sahib. According to his statement, all four attackers received militant training in Afghanistan.
The suspect also alleged that the group was provided with explosive jackets, while the suicide vests were assembled by the attackers themselves after receiving technical training from an individual identified as Umar Qari in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities to prevent militant groups from using Afghan territory to plan or facilitate attacks across the border.
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