Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday strongly rejected attempts to compare the country’s counter-terrorism operations along the alleged Durand Line with what he called India’s “illegal attacks on mosques and religious schools.”
Asif stressed in a statement that the Pakistani operation specifically targeted confirmed centers of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTIPI), a group he said operates against Pakistan from Afghan territory.
He considered any comparison of this operation with alleged Indian attacks on religious sites in Bahawalpur and Meridke to be “completely incorrect and unacceptable.”
The comments came in response to criticism that Pakistan’s recent operations in Afghanistan’s border areas were compared to India’s.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, on the other hand, has always denied Pakistan’s accusations of harboring the TTP and stressed that Pakistan’s insecurity is an internal matter of the country and no group is allowed to operate against neighboring countries from Afghanistan’s territory.
