Three soldiers were martyred and seven others injured when a group of 60 to 70 terrorists from bases in Afghanistan attacked Pakistan Army troops undertaking fencing efforts along the Pak-Afghan border in Alwara, North Waziristan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“The attack was effectively responded and repulsed by troops in the area. Scores of terrorists were killed and injured,” the ISPR statement said. “In exchange of fire, three soldiers – Lance Naik Ali, Lance Naik Nazeer and Sepoy Imdad Ullah – embraced martyrdom. Seven other soldiers were injured,” it added.
“While Pakistan’s security forces are solidifying border security through fencing and construction of forts to deny liberty of action to the terrorists, Afghan security forces and the authorities need to have more effective control in border region to support Pakistan’s efforts as well as deny use of Afghan soil against Pakistan,” the ISPR stated. “Pakistan’s fencing efforts will continue despite all such impediments,” it asserted.
Following the incident, Pakistan lodged a strong protest by summoning the Afghan charge d’affaires to the ministry of foreign affairs. “The Afghan diplomat was informed that Pakistan strongly deplores such provocations which are detrimental to peace and stability along Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” said a statement issued by the Foreign Office. “The Afghan side was urged to take immediate action against the terrorist elements on their side and ensure effective measures so that such incidents are not repeated in future,” it added.
Shedding light on the incident, the statement read, “On the night of April 30/May 1, 70-80 terrorists, based in Gayan and Bermal districts of Afghanistan’s Paktika province, crossed the Pak-Afghan border and launched fire raids and physical attacks on Pakistani military troops operating in North Waziristan district to fence the border.” “Pakistan’s military repulsed the attack by these terrorists, who after suffering significant casualties fled back to Afghanistan in small groups. These terrorists were able to escape due to lack of appropriate response by the Afghan security forces,” it added. “The unfortunate incident resulted in the martyrdom of three Pakistani soldiers while seriously injuring seven others,” it concluded.
At a recent press conference, Director General ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had revealed that fencing over a distance of 1,000km on the borders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan with Afghanistan has been completed and work on the rest is underway. “Fencing has benefitted us a lot … cross-border attacks, firing and IED (improved explosive device) incidents have reduced remarkably. When I talk about a remarkable decrease, I mean that their [militants’] liberty of action is not the same as before and as we continue to work on fencing, the number of these attacks will continue to decline,” he had said.