BAJAUR: At least two soldiers were martyred and four others injured in a suspected militant attack on a checkpost near the Pak-Afghan border in Bajaur Agency on Monday, according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement. “Terrorists from [the] Afghanistan side attempted [an] attack on Pakistani posts along [the] Pak-Afghan border in Bajaur Agency. The attempt was effectively responded [to], killing 8-10 fleeing terrorists, while many seen running back [were] injured,” ISPR said.
The martyred soldiers were identified as Capt Junaid Hafeez and Sepoy Raham.
“The absence of Afghan [state] writ on [the] Afghan side of the border, like many other areas, facilitates terrorists to undertake such attempts,” the ISPR said.
The incident comes days after a similar attack on a checkpost at the border in Rajgal Valley left a sepoy martyred. The ISPR in August had announced the conclusion of Khyber-4 Operation in Khyber Agency, which included clearing the areas on the Pakistani side of the border.
Pakistan began fencing the Pak-Afghan border earlier this year to prevent terrorists from crossing into the country from Afghanistan. The two countries accuse the other of harbouring their militant enemies — both deny the other’s charges. Earlier this month, during a Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs briefing, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua maintained that terror groups were not functioning in Pakistan, but operating from across the Pak-Afghan border. “In Afghanistan, 45 percent of the country is not under government control, which is why the Haqqani network and other terror groups do not need a safe haven in Pakistan,” she said.
Published in Daily Times, November 14th 2017.
