FO summons Afghan envoy to condemn firing on Pakistan military contingent

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday summoned Afghan Charge d’ Affaires at the foreign office to condemn the incident of firing on a Pakistani military contingent near the Pak-Afghan border, ARY News reported.

“A strong demarche was made over the latest incident of firing on a Pakistan military contingent engaged in completion of fencing of Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The unprovoked firing resulted in the martyrdom of three Pakistani soldiers while seriously injuring one of them,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

Pakistan underscored that the Afghan side was responsible for securing the areas on its side of the border, as mutually agreed on several occasions.

“Pakistan once again calls upon the Afghan government to do the needful to secure the border areas, especially along the sensitive points, to maintain the level of cooperation needed to effectively counter terrorist elements in their areas,” the statement reads.

It must be noted that four security officials were martyred and one wounded in two separate incidents of firing took place at western border areas, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Saturday.

The first incident took place in South Waziristan where a group of attackers opened heavy fire on a patrolling party, martyring 23-year-old sepoy Akhtar Hussain. Two attackers were killed in response attack lodged by the Pakistani security forces, said ISPR.