Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged accusations over tension on the border between the two countries, and Islamabad called on the Kabul government to take "severe steps" against militants launching attacks from inside Afghan territory, while a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban warned of "serious consequences" in response to its raids on Afghan regions. frontier.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that in the past few days, incidents along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have increased significantly, as Pakistani security forces are being targeted across the border.
The ministry added - in a statement today, Sunday - that the perpetrators of the attacks "impunity", and that Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Afghan authorities to take action to stop them, but to no avail.
The statement said that 7 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the North Waziristan border region, which borders Khost province (eastern Afghanistan), the alleged site of the strikes carried out by Pakistan Air Force on Friday.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry did not confirm the strikes, and did not address whether they were carried out by aircraft, and the Pakistani embassy in Kabul denied carrying out the air strikes.
summon the ambassador
On the other hand, the Taliban authorities on Saturday summoned the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul to protest against the strikes.
A local official in the Taliban government and residents said that 36 people were killed in air strikes carried out by Pakistani planes that entered Afghan airspace on Friday.
A statement issued by the Afghan Foreign Ministry said that the reason for summoning the Pakistani ambassador in Kabul was recent attacks in the provinces of Khost and Kunar, and that the ambassador had received a protest note to be delivered to Islamabad.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a strongly worded statement warning Islamabad of "serious consequences" if the matter was repeated.
"The defeat of the United States 8 months ago was a good lesson for the aggressors who do not want to respect Afghanistan's territory and freedom," he said.
Today, Afghans demonstrated near the joint Afghan-Pakistan border to protest against the Pakistani bombing, and demanded the Afghan government to expel the ambassador and close the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.
In turn, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan expressed its concern over the incident, and said - in a statement on Twitter - that it was deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties, including women and children, as a result of the air strikes in Khost and Kunar provinces, adding that it was working to Establish facts and verify losses.