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Islamabad urges Kabul to stop border incursions

Published: June 27, 2012

Rehman Malik says he has submitted a complaint with his Afghan counterpart. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

Afghanistan and Pakistan typically blame each other for Taliban violence plaguing both sides of their porous border.

On Tuesday, Pakistan asked Afghanistan to take appropriate measures to tighten its noose around militants, a day after it lashed out at its neighbour over cross-border attacks.

Islamabad lodged a formal complaint with Kabul over the Afghan militant attack on Pakistani security personnel in Upper Dir on Sunday in which over a dozen security personnel were killed while another 10 were still missing.

“I submitted a complaint with my Afghan counterpart for not preventing cross-border movement of militants into Pakistan’s territory,” Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik told reporters, adding that a written guarantee has been sought from Kabul that Dir-like incidents would not occur in the future.

Switching to politics, the PM’s adviser censured the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for using court petitions to derail democracy in the country. Furthermore, Malik claimed that an attack on a private television station on Monday had been carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

‘Afghans flee shelling from Pakistan’

A barrage of cross-border artillery and rocket attacks from Pakistan have forced thousands of Afghan villagers to flee their homes, witnesses and officials in Afghanistan said on Tuesday. The shelling was reported in eastern Kunar province.

“More than 500 families have been displaced in two districts of Dangam and Nari due to continued Pakistani rocket shelling in the past two weeks,” said Wasefullah Wasef, a spokesman for the provincial government in Kunar.

“The shelling has intensified after the recent incident in which some Pakistani soldiers were killed by Taliban militants,” Wasef told AFP.

Mohammad Fazel Naseh, provincial head for refugees, told AFP: “So far 343 displaced families from Dangam district, and more than 270 families from Nari and Marawara districts have been registered.” (with additional input from AFP)

Published In The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2012.

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Reader Comments (44)

  • Raj
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:05AM

    New Delhi has urged Islamabad zillion times to stop border incursions.

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  • Kaptslim
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:12AM

    No more urges and requests. Time to hit the hide outs across border. I know you would call me insane but I got this insanity after watching beheading of soldiers at the hands of Taliban. They were soldiers defending this very nation. They sacrificed their lives for us but we don’t have even a minute to remember them. Their blood is a debt on this nation and we must pay it back. Their dead bodies are still with Taliban and we must bring them back at any cost and bury them with due HONOR
    Kapt Slim
    http://www.facebook.com/kaptslim.

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  • Malatesh
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:16AM

    Where is proof Mr Mallik?
    Provide credible evidence then only Afghan’s law can take some actions. Afghan’s law cannot take any action only based on baseless allegations alone.

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  • Cautious
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:20AM

    No doubt Karzai will place that complaint in the round file where it belongs. Afghanistan has been complaining about cross border attacks for over ten years and Pakistan shrugs it’s shoulders — takes some gall to file a complaint after that kind of history.

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  • Dark Knight
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:36AM

    This is indeed funny. Pakistan of all country is now requesting a country to stop border incursions. PAKISTAN!!!!

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  • Jun 27, 2012 - 9:36AM

    Counterpart ??
    RM is no more interior minister.

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  • Butt
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:50AM

    ‘“I submitted a complaint with my Afghan counterpart.’ You are only a minor Adviser to PM. Please for God sakes; come out of your delusion that you are still an Interior Minister.

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  • Rana
    Jun 27, 2012 - 10:02AM

    Why our armed forced are reluctant to retaliate strongly? Are we so weak at our self defense even? Our top brass is ruined. There is not a huge difference between patience and admitting defeat. Please stop branding all intruders as Taliban, these are terrorists duly trained and sponsored by Nato and India.

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  • Prometheus
    Jun 27, 2012 - 10:13AM

    Hit them and Hit them really Hard this time! They wont listen through political approach! It is in their blood to be disloyal especially towards people who have helped them in their time of need and by the way their times of need never ended! Pakistan should cordon off the troubled mountaineous area on either side and with limited capacity Nuke it so that this nonsense is ended with its eventual destiny that is destroyed!

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  • Jun 27, 2012 - 10:49AM

    Life is so funny sometimes. The charges once India made against Pakistan now Pakistan is making against Afghanistan.

    If one believes in the Indian concept of Karma and that it can be applied to nations then this is the best example. Pakistan encouraged Terrorists to cross into India to wreak havoc, as recently as in 2008 with Mumbai attacks, now their neighbour is doing the same to them.

    I wonder how does it feel to wear India’s shoes now.

    All Afghanistan has to repudiate his request is to ask for proof and tell the Courts of Afghanistan do not find the proof sufficient enough. The circle will be complete. I’ve been saying this a lot nowadays, but what the heck: What goes around, comes around.

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  • Jun 27, 2012 - 10:58AM

    @Kaptslim:

    The logical response to your tirade against Afghanistan is that Pakistan will be violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty and by violating it Pakistan will set up a precedent which India or even Afghanistan can use to launch Drone/targeted missile attacks on Pakistani soil to take out what they consider elements which pose a security threat.

    If ,let us say, Pakistan does what you ask for then there will be justification for NATO/Afghan forces to launch Drone attacks deep into Pakistani territory citing Pakistan’s own example of violating other’s sovereignty.

    Pakistan by following corrupt policies and making incomprehensible excuses over the years has boxed itself with its own lies.

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  • vasan
    Jun 27, 2012 - 11:45AM

    You reap what you sow, Again and again and again. Stop sowing terror.

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  • Imran Con
    Jun 27, 2012 - 12:23PM

    @Kaptslim:
    Go for it. NATO will finally be able to fully cross the border of Pakistan with completely sound justifications afterwards. Really. Do it. Countless people will love you for creating that opening finally.

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  • Arijit Sharma
    Jun 27, 2012 - 12:40PM

    The Afghan Govt. can not do much really. The incursions were made by non-state actors.

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  • Fact
    Jun 27, 2012 - 1:05PM

    Rehman Malik is a British citizen . . . he is not loyal to Pakistan.
    .
    Wake up everybody!

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  • Zabandraz
    Jun 27, 2012 - 1:24PM

    These terrorists are supplied with weapons and training by USA and and then are told to go and attack Pakistan posts.

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  • The Afghan
    Jun 27, 2012 - 1:39PM

    Afghanistan will do what is in the best interest of its own nation. Afghanistan wants to ensure that in any dispensation in Pakistan the vital sovereign stake of the Afghans is recognized. In short, we want a government in Pakistan that will look after Afghanistan’s interest. We want a say in who rules Pakistan.

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  • Hedgefunder
    Jun 27, 2012 - 2:06PM

    LOL ! Look who is Talking !!!
    Where is the Proof ??????/?

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  • Polpot
    Jun 27, 2012 - 2:14PM

    What part of ‘interior” does Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik does’nt understand?
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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  • JK, Toronto.
    Jun 27, 2012 - 2:25PM

    @Rana:
    You identified the truth. Pak has two options – first, to start sending dossiers after dossiers of evidence as spineless India had been doing. Second, to start surgical strikes on Indian and American militant training camps in Afghanistan. A game to end all games.

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  • Mr S
    Jun 27, 2012 - 3:06PM

    Kick all the Afghans from Pakistan or send them to their beloved India. I wonder how many Indians will welcome them ? I bet none

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  • syed Imran
    Jun 27, 2012 - 3:44PM

    Pakistan Army should hit back with all its firepower. Let those who harbour these beasts learn that they will also face music if they provide safe heaven to these barbarians.Recommend

  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:13PM

    @Malatesh:
    same logic applies in case of mumbai attacks.india is levelling only allegations and not providing any sufficient and appropriate evidence.

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  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:16PM

    @Cautious:
    pakistan has another enemy now in the shape of afghanistan.
    well pakistan knows that afghanistan, which even cannot defend kabul,cannot do anything against militants.they are totally incompetent,liars and only good at talking.just like indians.

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  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:20PM

    @BruteForce:
    so u r suggesting that only option left for pakistan is to use non state actors against afghanistan.any other option is not viable.good suggestion man

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  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:21PM

    @The Afghan:
    not possible.keep on dreaming

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  • Polpot
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:23PM

    “Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik told reporters, adding that a written guarantee has been sought from Kabul that Dir-like incidents would not occur in the future.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    The esteemed Adviser forget to insist on apologies.

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  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:25PM

    pakistan should start drone strikes in afghanistan(militant safe heaven).and if india or usa try to launch any attack,then teach them a good lesson.
    only agressive stance will work in this case

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  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:26PM

    @Hedgefunder:
    where is proof of mumbai attacks or twin tower attacks.

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  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 4:34PM

    Afghanistan is a country that has deprived world of peace.it has been a war zone for centuries now.they see war as a lucrative oppurtunity of earning money.understand plz.world has spent billion of dollars to help afghanistan stand on its feet still nothing has happened.so where is all the money going!.it is going in the pockets of corrupt afghans.
    for afghans terrorism is a product.they spread terror and in turn foolish superpowers pay them money to eliminate terror.
    will a business destroy its own product!!

    Recommend

  • Banta Singh
    Jun 27, 2012 - 5:04PM

    Taste of your own medicine??

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  • Zalmai
    Jun 27, 2012 - 5:42PM

    @Ammar

    You are the epitome of a belligerent delusional Pakistani living in perpetual denial. Pakistan cannot do diddly to Afghanistan or India. All you do is huff and puff and lie to justify begging.

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  • Sangaryar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 5:57PM

    @ The Afghan

    Good one. As the idiom goes, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Two can play this game.Recommend

  • Afghan Lion
    Jun 27, 2012 - 7:22PM

    @ammar:
    You talk a lot. The fact is you are terrified of Pashtuns. If only you had such strength. And also, Pakistan dare not be currupt or attempt to profit in anyway in the bloodshed that has existed in Afghanistan for the last 30 years. My friend, you have no morals, no sense of history and no sense of self respect. The only reason I am even responding to you is to notify our Pakistani neighbors, you will suffer as you’ve made the Afghans suffer. With every passing day you continue to help destabilize and create hardship for Afghans, the more you’re demise will be irreversible. You don’t think afghans and Pakistani Pashtuns see right through Pakistan now? They don’t want Kandahar anymore my Pakistani buddy. They have their eyes set on Quetta now. We don’t need to cross the border. We are the majority. Bring the Taliban back, See what happens to Pakistan.

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  • BruteForce
    Jun 27, 2012 - 8:12PM

    @ammar:

    “so u r suggesting that only option left for pakistan is to use non state actors against afghanistan.any other option is not viable.good suggestion man”

    You talk as if that pawn hasn’t been played already. Pakistan has been there, done that.

    This is how insurgency works. They target you where you are most vulnerable. They need the most basic stuff and to counter them you need boots on the ground at least in a 3:1 ratio. They melt into the local populace and very hard to distinguish.

    Anyway, I don’t think you will be able to understand all this technical jargon so let me put it in layman terms.

    Pakistan has tried all the cards it has got. It has been partly outplayed by NATO and the rest of the free world and partly by its own idiotic policies(like Musharaff making deals with the likes of Mullah Fazlullah, Sufi Mohammed,etc. thereby only making them stronger)

    So, to think you are going to further encourage a policy that has backfired big time is utter foolishness and surely suicidal. Knowing Pakistan, anything is possible.

    I am just happy that Pakistan acts as the buffer for India against Afghanistan. So nice of Jinnah to think of the country of his birth.

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  • ammar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 8:16PM

    @Zalmai:
    come with a logic brother.i said what is truth and it always pinches to accept reality.
    Recommend

  • Zalmai
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:25PM

    @Ammar

    “Come with a logic”. You mean to say that you are logical. Here is the bitter truth, Pakistan spawned these terrorist organizations as strategic assets to do their dirty work but the tables have been turned and these terrorists fully employ strategic depth against the Pakistani state itself.
    Don’t blame Afghanistan for your woes, we are suffering from your flawed policies for the last 30 years and now the whole world sees Pakistan for what it is, and you can fill in the blanks because I don’t want to spell it out for you. Stop living in denial.Recommend

  • Zalmai
    Jun 27, 2012 - 9:44PM

    @Ammar

    “Come with a logic”. You mean to say that you are logical. Here is the bitter truth, Pakistan spawned these terrorist organizations as strategic assets to do their dirty work but the tables have been turned.These terrorists fully employ strategic depth against the Pakistani state itself.
    Don’t blame Afghanistan for your woes, we are suffering from your flawed policies for the last 30 years.The whole world sees Pakistan for what it is, you can fill in the blanks because I don’t want to spell it out for you. Stop living in denial and consider the quote below by Confucius and take the time to reflect on logic.

    The Superior Man is all-embracing and not partial. The inferior man is partial and not all-embracing.Recommend

  • Sangaryar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 10:02PM

    @Bruteforce

    “I am just happy that Pakistan acts as the buffer for India against Afghanistan. So nice of Jinnah to think of the country of his birth”.

    The buffer was a necessity for colonial powers in the 1800s to keep the Afghans at bay. The British were shortsighted in creating this buffer and subsequently allowing the carving of two nations to create a new artificial state was probably the biggest mistake ever.

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  • Sangaryar
    Jun 27, 2012 - 10:46PM

    @Ammar

    Afghanistan is a country that has deprived world of peace.it has been a war zone for centuries now.they see war as a lucrative oppurtunity of earning money.understand plz.world has spent billion of dollars to help afghanistan stand on its feet still nothing has happened.so where is all the money going!.it is going in the pockets of corrupt afghans.
    for afghans terrorism is a product.they spread terror and in turn foolish superpowers pay them money to eliminate terror.
    will a business destroy its own product!!

    Afghans are just doing what Pakistan has done for the last 65 years. We are more successful at it compared to your poor record. Don’t hate, appreciate.

    Recommend

  • elementary
    Jun 27, 2012 - 10:47PM

    @BruteForce:
    You wrote:
    Anyway, I don’t think you will be able to understand all this technical jargon so let me put it in layman terms.*

    Such arrogance! Why do you think person of differing opinion to you is of lesser intelligence?

    Recommend

  • elementary
    Jun 28, 2012 - 2:00AM

    @Prometheus:Preposterous and outrageous suggestion

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  • You Said It
    Jun 28, 2012 - 6:34AM

    All the populations of Afghanistan and India are having the laugh their heads off at this.

    Recommend

  • captain niatpac
    Jun 28, 2012 - 8:24AM

    @AfghanLion/Zalmai
    Dont put your own failures on other shoulders.You cannot live in the world with blaming your neighbor with everything that has happened to you in last 30 years.You govt. has never been friendly to Pakistan till the 80s, your king always asked us to to consider the durrand line an international border.During the 70s the baloch separatists were being provided sanctuaries in your country.Do you really expect a friendly behavior in return? So forget about muslim brotherhood anyway,its all about national interest.If you were not able to stop Pakistani pashtuns to cross into afghan to help their ethnic brothers during 80s, dont blame us.Presence of USSR in Afghanistan was a potential threat to us, and we did what was best for us.How can you really call fighters from 80s freedom fighters and those fighting today as terrorists.Tends to show your double standards and nothing more.

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