President Asif Ali Zardari, strongly condemned the rudimentary drone attacks carried out by Afghan Taliban elements aimed at targeting civilian areas in Pakistan.
The president said the illegitimate and terrorist Taliban regime has brought grave consequences upon itself by crossing this red line.
“The illegitimate regime of Afghanistan installed by terror and brute force continues to renege on its commitments not to provide safe sanctuaries to terrorist groups and now has the audacity to provoke a major military power of the Islamic world,” President Secretariat Media Wing, in a press release, quoted the president as saying.
While the Afghan terrorist regime sought negotiations with Pakistan’s friendly countries, the president said, it crossed a red line by attempting to target their civilians while Pakistan remained engaged in efforts to promote peace and stability in the Gulf region and West Asia.
He also expressed his best wishes for the speedy recovery of children and other civilians injured by drone debris in Quetta, Kohat and Rawalpindi.
President Zardari also reaffirmed that Pakistan’s armed forces and security institutions remained fully committed to the defence of the country and the protection of its people.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, said the “Afghan Taliban are spending more time weaving fantasies” than they are getting rid of “terrorist organizations enjoying Afghan Taliban regime hospitality.”
He said on X that such propaganda would not force Pakistan to end its counterterrorism operations. “Only the end of terrorism from Afghan soil to Pakistan will,” he said.