The US State Department has said that Washington “supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks” as an intermittent conflict between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan continues.
The statement followed cross-border incursions by Pakistan and Afghanistan into the other’s territory, following a militant attack that killed three paramilitary troops in Karachi.
The attack, claimed by Jamaat ul Ahrar, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), came amid a surge in militancy in Pakistan in recent years that has triggered skirmishes with Afghanistan since February.
“The Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists,” State Department said on Thursday.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that it blames for plotting attacks in Pakistan.