Pakistan urges Taliban to secure border areas in wake of terrorist attacks

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 17 (ANI): After reports of increased terror attacks across the Durand Line, Pakistan has called on Afghanistan's Taliban regime to secure the region surrounding the border and take action against the elements engaged in terrorism, local media reported.
"Pakistan requests the sovereign Government of Afghanistan to secure the Pak-Afghan border region and take stern actions against the individuals involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan, in the interest of peace and progress of the two brotherly countries," read a statement issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office.
The Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar stated that the terrorist attacks along the Pak-Afghan border have significantly increased in the last few days.
"Terrorists are using Afghan soil with impunity to carry out activities inside Pakistan," Iftikhar said.
The spokesperson further stated that Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged for the past several months through institutional channels for effective coordination and security along their long shared border.
"Unfortunately, elements of banned terrorist groups in the border region, including TTP, have continued to attack Pakistan's border security posts, resulting into martyrdom of several Pakistani troops," Iftikhar said.
On Thursday, seven Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in North Waziristan District by terrorists operating from Afghanistan, Iftikhar added.
On the other side, Taliban authorities accused Pakistani forces of firing rockets early Saturday, leaving six people dead.
"Five children and a woman were killed and a man wounded," Taliban's provincial director of information Najibullah Hassan Abdaal said.
Earlier, amid the continuous tension along the Durand Line between the Pakistani troops and the Talibani forces, the Foreign Ministries of both sides have exchanged protest notes accusing each other of displaying aggressive attitudes on the border
Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a note verbale to Afghan Embassy in Islamabad on February 25, condemned the rising incidents of "aggressive attitude, cross border violations and disregard to mutually agreed and established procedures by Afghan border security personnel". It lamented that such incidents were occurring despite the presence of 'Pakistan's Military Liaison Officers' in Kabul and Border Coordination Centers at Torkham and Chaman, vernacular media said.
Notably, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan does not recognise the British-era Durand Line as the boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Violations along the Durand Line continue to remain a bone of contention between the two countries.
Taliban again lodged a protest with the Pakistan embassy in Kabul on March 27 alleging that Pakistani Army officials were issuing a warning to residents of Jaji Maidan District in Khost Province to leave the area or face serious consequences, local media reported.

The Taliban also complained that Pakistani Border Forces have continued resorting to firing heavy and light weapons, targeting residential areas along the Durand Line. (ANI)