President Hamid Karzai. PHOTO: AFP
KABUL: Afghanistan said on Sunday it was pulling out of security talks in Islamabad in anger at cross-border attacks which it blames on the Pakistan Army and claims were designed to disrupt the second round of its presidential election.
In a meeting chaired by President Hamid Karzai, the National Security Council ‘condemned’ increasing numbers of “rocket attacks (by the) Pakistani military against the country,”a statement from the presidential palace said. It said the attacks were “aimed at disrupting the second round of presidential elections”, due to be held on June 14.
A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defence, Mohammad Zahir Azimi, said ‘Pakistani helicopters’ had crossed the border and flown over the Kunar province.
Local leaders claimed that rockets fired from Pakistani territory had left six dead and around 40 injured in recent days. There was no independent verification of the claims.
The National Security Council said it would ‘raise serious concerns’ with Pakistan through the foreign ministry, according to the statement. In protest, Afghan security officials will not participate in a regional security summit due to take place in Islamabad on June 4.
The council also took issue with the lack of reaction from the US, describing the silence as “a violation of (the) long-term strategic pact signed between the two countries.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2014.
COMMENTS (16)
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Who cares, Pakistan should send all Afghan refugees back to their wonderful/proud country. We had enough baby sitting refugees n Karzai busy milking USA n Pakistan let alone earning millions in drug business. Please Mr. Karzai take your people back n help them settle - at least you will do some thing productive.
I have a simple question from my Pakistani friends. Why are Taliban and their ideology good for Afghanistan but not acceptable for Pakistan?
@Dr Priyanka: So the 90 percent of Afghan controlled by the Afghan Talibans are not inhibited by common man. Kabul is just one city under the Afghan government.
@salman,
How come you guys didn't have this brainwave in 1971? It was 10 million refugees from bangladesh then
Pakistan sponsored terrorism on the people of Afghanistan has to be brought to a halt. Afghanistan has a much brighter future compared to Pakistan which is going down and down.
@Dr Priyanka:
Pakistan reserves right to interfere in Afghanistan especially when you have more than 3 million Afghan refugees in the country who are more than a burden to our fragile economy. So Pakistan's stakes are high in that part of the world. They are not in a position to dictate terms to us.
@Dr Priyanka:
Sorry sir, you are addressing a Robot, which can only communicate in one direction! The Afghans are allergic towards non Pashto speaking people. Hamid Karzai being a Pakhtun himself is the only leader in the region who is concerned about the Pakhtuns dying on both sides of the border.
Rex Minor
@US CENTCOM: Your intentions are honourable, but from what I've heard and seen, it appears that the common man in the street in Afghanistan is not happy with Pakistan interfering with their affairs.
The ongoing rift between the regional partners is a cause for concern. At the end of the day, The U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan share a common vision in regards to restoring peace in the region. Our failure to work together only shifts the advantage in our common enemies favor. Rest assured our common enemies would love to see us remain tangled in our differences for the sake of gaining advantage. Ultimately, it is up to us to realize the importance of ironing out any differences for the sake of achieving our common objectives. We are fighting the same terrorists and suffering at the hands of the same terrorists. We have made too many sacrifices to let our differences prevail over our shared peace objectives in the region. We wish to see the regional partners overcome any issues and form a healthy partnership for the betterment of the region.
Ali Khan Digital Engagement Team, USCENTCOM
@faisal they don't want abdullah to win who according to them is your country critique. They Want this elections to be declared as sham. By cross border infiltration who will fake vote and disrupt it by violence.We know very well how cross firing helps to distract the soldiers and sendinfiltrators. We face these attacks regularly at loc.
What a bunch of lies. What has this to do with their elections
The Indians have prepared a farm house in south Delhi to lodge Karzai after retirement as he cannot live in his mayoralty after retiring.
And what of the cross-border attacks on the Pakistan Army check-post? Are hot pursuits justified only when they are from your side?
Karzai going berserk! as usual.
Karzai is now being really loyal to the Taliban. He knows his life probably depends on it, unless of course he chooses to decamp from Afghanistan with his billions. There's been no reaction from America because in this (elimination of the Taliban) the interests of the two countries are aligned. It's too bad Pakistan waited so long before getting serious about the Taliban threat. The United States and Pakistan could've done so much more together than they can now with the American troops ready to go home.