Pakistan Bombs Afghanistan
By: Qasim Hussain
By: Qasim Hussain
On Friday night last week, the Pakistan air force bombed bordering Afghan provinces. These attacks came in response to an alleged Taliban ambush on a Pakistani army convoy in the unstable North Waziristan district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and left seven Pakistani soldiers dead. Soon after the ambush, Pakistans ISPR (Inter Services Public Relations) released a statement saying that the soldiers had given a “prompt response, and effectively engaged and killed four terrorists.” The bombings that followed killed 47 Afghan citizens, most of which were civilians, and displaced hundreds more. The international community was quick to denounce Pakistan, and the Afghan government summoned Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan to protest the “illegal” act. The ISPR responded by releasing a statement that said that the bombings were justified, and they also warned Afghanistan not to harbour terrorists, stating that if they did more attacks would follow. This is a surprising sign of strained relations between two countries that recently established strong ties after the US exit from Afghanistan in August of 2021. What is next? It is expected that both countries will work to re-establish ties and try not to have an incident like this happen in the future.
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