18 February 2017•Update: 19 February 2017
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan on Saturday in protest against recent cross-border shelling, according to a ministry statement.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai summoned Ambassador Abrar Hussain to denounce the shelling by Pakistani forces following a spate of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including a suspected suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine in southern Sindh province that left more than 80 people dead Thursday.
Pakistani military had pointed fingers at Afghanistan hours after the shrine blast. Spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor tweeted Thursday that recent terrorist acts were being executed “on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond.”
Later, pro-military media outlets in Pakistan reported that Pakistani military had destroyed alleged terror training camps inside Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. However, Afghan officials said the cross-border shelling had killed a women and her son apart from leaving several civilians injured and forcing tens of families to flee their homes.
Karzai also demanded the release of some 150 Afghans who were arrested from different cities in Pakistan.
“The government of Afghanistan demands serious and decisive measures against terrorist groups hiding in Pakistan,” the deputy foreign minister was quoted as telling the Pakistani envoy.
According to the ministry’s statement, Karzai also offered his condolences over the death of civilians in the terrorist attack on the shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh.
Meanwhile, the two main border crossing points -- Chaman and Torkham -- between the two neighboring countries remained closed for the second straight day Saturday.
Pakistan had shut the crossings Thursday in protest against the spate of recent terrorist attacks, which it blames on terrorists based in Afghanistan. It also accuses the Afghan government of failing to act against terrorists targeting Pakistan. The Afghan government in turn also often accuses Pakistan of providing safe havens to terrorists that target Afghanistan.
On Friday, Pakistan’s military spokesman tweeted that Afghan embassy officials had been called in at army headquarters and given a list of “76 terrorists” said to be hiding in Afghanistan. The officials were asked to take immediate action against them.
