US backs Pakistan’s right to defend itself from terrorism

The United States supported on Tuesday Pakistan’s right to defend itself from terrorism, saying that the Pakistani people had “suffered tremendously” from such attacks as Washington repeated it call on the Afghan Taliban not to allow terrorist groups to use their soil to launch attacks abroad.

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told his regular weekly press briefing that the Taliban decision of banning the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from working with women put millions of Afghans at risk, who depended on humanitarian assistance for their very survival.

The spokesperson was asked if Pakistan’s National Security Committee’s (NSC) statement this week indicated that Islamabad might resort to targeting terrorist safe havens across the border in Afghanistan if Kabul did not take the appropriate action. “We’re aware of the recent statement…,” Price replied.

“The Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks. Pakistan has a right to defend itself from terrorism,” Price said, adding: “We continue… to call on the Taliban to uphold the very commitment they have made to see to it that Afghan soil is never again used as a launchpad for international terrorist attacks.”

On Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presided over the crucial NSC huddle where attendees included relevant federal cabinet members, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, all services chiefs, and heads of intelligence services. Significantly, it was the second meeting of NSC in less than a week.

The NSC was convened amid a spurt in terrorist violence. The forum sent an unequivocal message to the Afghan Taliban regime that Pakistan would not allow its neighbour to provide sanctuaries and facilitate terrorists.

Without saying explicitly, the NSC statement indicated that Pakistan might resort to targeting the terrorist safe havens across the border if Afghanistan did not take the appropriate action. Earlier, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had said international laws sanctions cross-border attack on terrorists’ sanctuaries.

“The forum concluded that no country will be allowed to provide sanctuaries and facilitation to terrorists and Pakistan reserves all rights in that respect to safeguard her people,” said the NSC statement, without naming Afghanistan.

The NSC reiterated its resolve to have zero tolerance for terrorism in Pakistan and reaffirmed its determination to take on any and all entities that resort to violence. “This will be dealt with full force of the state. Pakistan’s security is uncompromisable and the full writ of the state will be maintained on every inch of the country.”

Taliban ban on women

Price said that the US had seen “repeated offenses” on the part of the Afghan Taliban, targeting women repeatedly. Most recently, the spokesperson continued, the Taliban issued an edict, barring female employees of national and international NGOs from the workplace.

“We want to be very clear and very swift in condemning this outrageous decision,” Price told reporters. “We call on the Taliban to urgently reverse this harmful decision. We are monitoring the evolving situation very closely, the impacts that this edict has had and may potentially yet have.”

Price emphasised that if the Taliban were not able to fulfil their commitments to the world, the US would register a strong condemnation while continuing to support the Afghan people. “And we’re going to be very careful not to do anything that could further imperil the humanitarian well-being of the Afghan people.”