ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday insisted that Pakistan does not seek conflict with India or Afghanistan but warned that any aggression would be met decisively, after a suicide attack at a court complex in G-11 killed at least 12 people and injured more than 30. The bombing struck a crowded courthouse entrance as litigants and lawyers gathered; authorities also reported a separate militant assault on a cadet college in Wana in which security forces said all assailants were killed.
Islamabad blamed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for both strikes and alleged that fighters were being sheltered across the border in Afghanistan with outside support — claims denied by Kabul and New Delhi. Mr Asif told Geo TV that intelligence suggested thousands of fighters had been moved into Pakistan in recent months and that a significant portion of those eliminated were Afghan nationals, and he stressed Pakistan’s capacity to respond if attacked. He framed Islamabad’s priority as consolidating economic recovery while vowing to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice, underscoring that Pakistan prefers peace but will not let aggression go unanswered as regional tensions and mistrust along the border intensify.
