Pakistan Army Chief Calls Strikes in Afghanistan Anti-Terror Operations

Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, has described his country’s air strikes on Afghan soil as “targeted counterterrorism actions” and blamed the Taliban administration for the current situation. He said the operations are based on intelligence.

Munir spoke on Friday, 10 Mehr, at a meeting with senior Pakistani army commanders in Rawalpindi. He described the strikes as being carried out under the “right of self-defence” and claimed that terrorism originates from Afghanistan.

He called the Taliban administration “delusional leadership” and alleged that it is enabling terrorist groups to operate on behalf of India. Munir said this leadership is responsible for the consequences of the situation; the report did not mention any reaction from the Taliban administration to the claim.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Pakistan has accused the group of harbouring Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Baloch Liberation Army, and has repeatedly carried out air strikes on positions inside Afghanistan. The Taliban administration denies cooperating with armed opponents of the Pakistani government.

In the latest case, Noorullah Noori, the acting minister for borders, ethnicities and tribes in the Taliban administration, said the group could advance to Peshawar within two days and seize Pakistani territory. Faisal Karim Kundi, governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, called the remarks “stupid and provocative.” Jan Achakzai, the former information minister of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, also said the Taliban cannot defeat its opponents in Kunar and Nuristan, and described the claim of capturing Peshawar as a “hollow threat and baseless rhetoric.”