Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry on Monday presented the government’s official position in the Senate regarding Pakistan’s recent airstrikes in Afghanistan, stating that the operations were carried out in self-defence and based on credible intelligence.
Addressing the House, the minister said he would take Parliament into confidence over the airstrikes conducted in three provinces of Afghanistan. He maintained that if a terrorist act takes place in Pakistan, the country has the right to defend itself.
Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said Pakistan possesses solid and credible evidence linking terrorist activities inside Pakistan to sanctuaries across the border. He added that Afghanistan had been informed multiple times about the presence of terrorist training camps and safe havens on its soil.
He said negotiations were also held in Doha on the issue, during which, according to him, Afghanistan demanded Rs10 billion for the relocation of terrorist sanctuaries.
“Our only demand is that infiltration from Afghanistan into Pakistan must stop,” he told the Senate, adding that the Taliban authorities were not even willing to guarantee an end to terrorism.
The minister said the recent operations targeted terrorist camps and were intelligence-based. He stressed that Pakistan’s defence had been secured through the sacrifices of civilians and soldiers and that the country could not remain silent in the face of continued attacks.
Referring to incidents in Tarlai, Bannu and Bajaur, he said the pattern of these attacks pointed towards elements operating from Afghanistan. “We are not here to pick up bodies; we have to respond,” he remarked.
Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said Pakistan had repeatedly shared evidence with Afghan authorities and formally requested them to stop infiltration across the Pak-Afghan border. However, he claimed that the Afghan government had not shown a positive response or taken effective action against terrorist groups, including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
He further stated that terrorism was no longer confined to tribal areas but had spread across the country. According to the minister, terrorist organisations enter Pakistan through the border, carry out operations, and retreat to their safe havens in Afghanistan.
The minister reiterated that Pakistan had identified terrorist training camps and conveyed the information to Afghan authorities, but no meaningful steps had been taken so far to dismantle them.