DG ISPR tells Afghan Taliban regime to choose between terrorist organisations and Pakistan

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Friday that the Afghan Taliban had to choose between standing with Pakistan or with terrorist organisations.

“I want to make one thing clear: the oppressive Afghan Taliban regime has to make a clear choice. The choice is to choose between Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Baloch Liberation Army, Daesh, Al Qaeda, the terrorists and terrorist organisations and Pakistan,” he said while giving a briefing on security forces’ response to unprovoked aggression by the Afghan Taliban on Thursday.

“They have to make this choice. It has been made clear by the government of Pakistan. It is not something new I am saying … They have to make this choice. Whether they choose terrorists and terrorism or Pakistan. We are clear … Let it be known that our choice is absolutely clear. It will always be Pakistan over everything,” he said.

“The Pakistan Army and the people of Pakistan have never hesitated in making any sacrifice for this choice and they will never,” he asserted.

At the outset of the briefing, the DG ISPR gave a breakdown of the security forces’ response.

“The Afghan Taliban regime, which is the master proxy of all these terrorist proxies operating from Afghanistan … that master proxy … came into action last night … along with the terrorists of Fitna al Khawarij,” he said.

He said that the two opened fire and carried out physical raids on 53 locations along the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“This aggression was done by this master proxy in coordination, in collusion and in support of a terrorist organisation. That’s what happened last night,” he said.

Talking about Pakistan’s response to the aggression, he said: “We were ready.”

He said that Pakistan’s armed forces responded “immediately and effectively”, adding that the attack was repulsed at all 53 locations.

“They came with armed quadcopters [and] big and small weapons. We shot down their quadcopters and silenced their weapons,” he said.

He added that not only were the attacks effectively repulsed, but Pakistan, exercising self-defence, responded and gave a “befitting reply”.

Giving details of the Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, he said, so far 274 Taliban regime personnel and khwarij had been killed and more than 400 were injured.

“Seventy-three posts of the Afghan Taliban along the Pak-Afghan border have been totally destroyed. Eighteen posts have been captured,” he said.

As per conservative estimates, 115 tanks, armoured vehicles, and artillery pieces of the Afghan Taliban forces had been destroyed, he said.

He further said that the headquarters and military installations — which were providing support to terrorist organisations and helped them plan — were targeted and hit.

In these airstrikes, 22 locations in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost, and Paktika were targeted, he said.

“All these targets were very carefully selected based on intelligence. They are military targets, and great care was exercised so that there is no civilian collateral damage,” he asserted.

He said that these targets included corps headquarters, brigade headquarters, battalion headquarters, sector headquarters, ammunition depots, logistics bases, and places providing shelter to terrorists and their supporters.

He further said that at several places, the “cowardly Afghan Taliban forces and the khwarij with them” not only ran but also abandoned the dead bodies of their accomplices, which had been “secured” in accordance with the Geneva protocols.

He said that 12 Pakistan army soldiers had been martyred, while 27 were injured and one soldier was missing in action. He then played several video clips of the action undertaken against the Afghan Taliban.

He further stated that Afghan media and their proxies were floating lies on social media regarding the targeting of civilians.

“At no place was any civilian infrastructure targeted. These are all military targets. These are all the infrastructure from where Pakistan was attacked,” he asserted.

He also played a clip showing Pakistan Army soldiers taking down the Afghan flag and hoisting Pakistan’s flag at a checkpost along the Pak-Afghan border.

“The nation is proud of these soldiers who have rendered their lives, their sweat and their blood for the protection of the land and the honour of the people of Pakistan,” he said.

“Whether on ground or in the air, the armed forces of Pakistan gave an effective, immediate and brutal response; a well-deserved response to the terrorists and their facilitators,” he said.

He went on to say that the Afghan Taliban were threatening that they would respond to Pakistan.

“We saw that they also tried to use some rudimentary sort of drones for attacking Sibbi, Abbottabad and Nowshera. However, the anti-drone system over there and the effective deployment took them out,” he said.

However, he added that this “again showed” how Afghan Taliban had become a “master proxy”.

“It is difficult to distinguish where the Taliban regime ends and where the terrorism starts. The lines have blurred. Therefore, it is necessary to make it clear that if anyone tries to carry out any terrorist activity in Pakistan … its response will be given to terrorists, their guardians, and those who protect them. No place will be safe for them as we also have equal rights,” he said.