Pak-Afghan Commission: Upper Dir incursion to figure in talks with Kabul

Incursions reportedly carried out by the Afghan army and sponsored by US, Nato forces.


Qaiser Butt June 08, 2011

ISLAMABAD:


The three-day incursions, allegedly carried out by Afghan militants, on the Shaltalo checkpoint in Upper Dir will be one of the vital issues that will figure in the opening session of a high-level Pakistan-Afghanistan joint commission on June 10 in Islamabad, an official source told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.


Islamabad will take up the issue with President Hamid Karzai during his forthcoming visit to Pakistan, the source said. However, reports have surfaced that the incursions that killed over 28 policemen, security forces personnel and civilians, were carried out by the Afghan army and sponsored by US, Nato forces.

Meanwhile, Islamabad had already taken up the issue with the US and Nato forces, a foreign ministry official said. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain issued a stern warning to Nato and Kabul soon after the incursion took place, saying, “Nato is either incompetent or complicit with the infiltrators.”

The attack prompted a cabinet meeting of the K-P provincial government that also asked Islamabad to ensure the safety and security of the people in the region. The Inspector General police Fayaz Turo briefed the cabinet about the assault and also lodged protest with Kabul, requesting President Hamid Karzai to look into the incident.

The cabinet also decided to raise tribal Lashkars in the province, particularly in Chitral, Bajaur and Dir where the situation was much more sensitive when it comes to infiltration from across the border.

Meanwhile, intelligence sources have rejected a statement by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which has claimed responsibility for the cross-border attack in Shaltalo. “The TTP is known for making phony claims to panic people,” an intelligence official told The Express Tribune.

An Islamabad-based analyst, Brigadier (retd) Shaukat Qadir has also rejected the Taliban claim. He told The Express Tribune that a Special Task Force, comprising Afghan Army soldiers, were suspected to be the attackers.

He added that the special force had been trained to carry out a secret US sponsored war in Pakistan and to teach a lesson to the security establishment for not cooperating with them.

A senior police official in Peshawar told The Express Tribune that the government had sufficient evidence that the attack on Upper Dir was sponsored by the US, Nato forces and not by Taliban.

“That is why the provincial government had lodged protest with Nato and the Afghan government,” he added.  “We never lodge a complaint with Nato or the Afghan government for any terrorist attack by the Taliban,” he added.





Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ