Pak army chief Asim Munir warns Afghanistan to choose between ‘peace and chaos’

Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, on Saturday (October 18) cautioned Afghanistan to choose between “peace and chaos”, urging Kabul to take swift and decisive action against terrorists using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan.

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Munir's warning to Taliban

Munir’s warning came as Pakistan launched fresh air strikes targeting suspected terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan late Friday (October 17), shortly after Islamabad and Kabul extended their two-day ceasefire that had briefly paused hostilities between the two sides.

Addressing a graduation ceremony of army cadets at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) said Afghanistan must choose between “peace and chaos”.

The Taliban regime, Munir said, must act firmly against militants operating from its soil. All proxies using Afghan soil would be met with a response that “will reduce them to dust,” Munir warned.

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Pakistan-Afghanistan clash

The air strikes by Pakistan on Friday followed a gun-and-bomb attack by terrorists at a military installation in North Waziristan, claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The fresh strikes came ahead of an expected meeting between the representatives of the two countries in Doha, where Qatari government is attempting to make an effort for mediation.

Pakistan has repeatedly pressed the Taliban regime to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghan soil for cross-border attacks. Kabul, however, denies these allegations, maintaining that Afghanistan’s territory is not being used against any neighbouring country.

Tensions between the two neighbouring nations escalated following a series of deadly attacks by the banned outfit TTP, allegedly launched from Afghanistan, including a recent assault in Orakzai district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major.

(With agency inputs)