Pakistan rejects Afghan Taliban’s allegations of conducting strikes inside Afghanistan

• Lt Gen Chaudhry says terrorists have no categories.
• ISPR DG urges banning non-custom-paid vehicles
• ISPR DG presses Taliban to behave like state.
  

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry rejected accusations by the Taliban regime that it was behind an overnight airstrike in Afghanistan, state media reported on Tuesday.

“Pakistan has not attacked Afghanistan,” the army’s top spokesperson said in comments carried by the state broadcaster, adding that “the allegations of the interim Afghan government are baseless”.

The statement comes hours after Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused the government in Islamabad of carrying out strikes in Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces, which he alleged claimed the lives of 10 people.

Mustaghfir Gurbuz, a spokesman for the governor of Khost, claimed the strikes were carried out by drones and aircraft.

“The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns this violation and reiterates that defending its airspace, territory, and people is its legitimate right, and it will respond appropriately at the right time,” Mujahid said in a separate statement.

In today’s statement, Lt Gen Chaudhry said that Pakistan conducts all its attacks openly and never targets civilians, clarifying that the country follows clear principles in its responses. “We are a state and respond only as a state.” 

The military spokesperson said Pakistan is “against terrorism, not the Afghan people,” and urged the Taliban regime to make decisions like a state.

“The Taliban government should not act like a non-state actor. How long will it remain interim?” he asked. “There is no good or bad Taliban in our view, and there is no distinction among terrorists,” the ISPR DG stated.

He called for an immediate ban on non-custom-paid vehicles, noting that “many terrorism incidents have involved non-custom-paid vehicles.”

This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.