ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has formally protested to the Afghan Taliban authorities over the recent terrorist attack in Karachi, summoning Afghanistan’s chargé d’affaires in Islamabad and issuing a demarche after investigators found the involvement of Afghan nationals in the assault.
The protest followed Saturday’s bomb and gun attack on a Sindh Rangers facility in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar area, which claimed the lives of three Rangers personnel and left four others injured. According to the military’s media wing, militants from Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), detonated an explosive at the camp’s entrance before opening fire on security personnel.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Monday that the Afghan chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday night, where Pakistan conveyed its strong protest over the incident. He added that Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, also delivered a similar demarche to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul.
The Foreign Office stated that the demarches were issued after investigations confirmed the involvement of Afghan nationals in the attack, including one suspect who was captured alive. It added that the incident underscored Pakistan’s longstanding concern that Afghan territory and Afghan nationals continue to be exploited by terrorist groups to plan and execute attacks inside Pakistan.
