Imran govt's patience 'running thin' with Taliban as terrorists use Afghan soil to kill 5 Pak soldiers

The Imran Khan government's patience seems to be running thin with the Taliban as terrorists used Afghan soil on Sunday to kill five Pakistani soldiers from across the border.

The patience of Pakistan -- which is accused of supporting the Taliban during its advance against the previous Afghan government -- with the interim Afghan government seems to be running thin as for the first time it publically condemned the use of Afghan soil against it since the Taliban takeover after its five soldiers died in the exchange of fire with terrorists from across the border on Sunday, reported The Express Tribune.

"Terrorists from inside Afghanistan across the international border, opened fire on Pakistani troops in Kurram District," The Express Tribune quoted Inter-Services Public Relation as saying in a statement.

Islamabad strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and "expects that interim Afghan government will not allow the conduct of such activities against Pakistan, in future," added the ISPR in the statement.

This is the first time Islamabad officially condemned the use of Afghan soil against it under Taliban rule. On previous occasions, the Imran Khan government opted to downplay similar incidents. Even when the local Taliban soldiers tried to disrupt the border fencing, Pakistan termed it a "localised problem", reported The Express Tribune.

The direct criticism by the Imran Khan government points that now Islamabad is running out of patience with the interim Taliban government as, despite its repeated promises, Afghan soil continued to be used by terrorists against Pakistan.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid has also condemned the incident and stated the interim Taliban government should ensure that such attacks do not take place as promised.

During the recent visit of Pakistan's National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf to Afghanistan, the Taliban had assured that Afghan soil would not be used against any country including Pakistan.

The Imran Khan government for a long time had been urging the Taliban to take action against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan or deny them space to operate out of Afghan soil. Even Islamabad was engaged in talks with the TTP through the Afghan Taliban. However, Islamabad maintained that those talks broke down due to the harsh demands of the TTP in recent times. After the breakdown of the talks, TTP had resumed its violent activities against Pakistan.

Pakistan is witnessing a surge of attacks in recent days and these are not limited to one area or province of the country. In the last fifteen days, Lahore, Islamabad, Balochistan's Panjgur and Naushki areas have witnessed attacks that have claimed a number of lives.

( With inputs from ANI )

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