Protest lodged with Afghanistan over cross-border attacks

Afghan Charge d' Affairs summoned to the Foreign Ministry, protest recorded.

Pakistan on Saturday lodged a formal protest with the Afghan government over cross-border attacks emanating from Kunar and Nuristan against seven Pakistani check posts in Chitral earlier on Saturday in which 25 security forces personnel were killed.

The Afghan Charge d’Affairs was called in at the Foreign Ministry and protest on the attacks and was conveyed with the imperative of establishing peace and tranquillity in the border region and effectively dealing with terrorists, a foreign office statement issued here on Saturday said.

The statement said that it was Pakistan’s expectation that ISAF and the Afghan National Army would take effective measures to prevent such incursions by militants from safe havens from across the border in Kunar and Nuristan and to enhance border security, the statement added.

Earlier in the day, an ISPR statement said that 25 security forces had been killed, including 16 frontier scouts, four policemen and five Levies, when almost 300 terrorists attacked seven security posts in Chitral.

Army said that security forces had managed to kill 20 attackers. Two of the posts under attack were completely overrun.

Army said that terrorists evicted from Swat and Dir were regrouping and rearming in Nuristan and Kunar, bolstering their ranks with local Afghans.