Islamabad summons Afghan diplomat over Bannu attack

KABUL (Pajhwok): Pakistan has summoned the deputy head of the Afghan mission in Islamabad over a suicide attack on the Bannu Cantonment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The current interim government in Kabul has repeatedly denied Afghanistan’s involvement in fuelling instability in Pakistan.

On Monday, militants attacked the Bannu Cantonment and killed eight military personnel, according to ISPR.

In Islamabad, a statement from the Foreign Office said the deputy head of mission at the Afghan embassy was summoned on Wednesday to deliver Pakistan’s “strong demarche” over the deadly attack in Bannu.

It said: “The interim Afghan government was urged to fully investigate and take immediate, robust and effective action against the perpetrators of the Bannu attack and to prevent the recurrence of such attacks against Pakistan using the territory of Afghanistan.”

The caretaker government has not yet commented. The summoning of the diplomat comes despite Kabul’s repeated assurances that no one would be allowed to use Afghan soil against anyone.

Afghan officials have asked Pakistan every time and again not to link its instability to Afghanistan.

sa/mud