Choose between 'peace and chaos': Pak Army chief warns Taliban amid escalating hostilities

Islamabad: Army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Saturday warned Afghanistan to choose between "peace and chaos" as it asked Kabul to take firm and immediate action against terrorists using Afghan soil to launch attacks inside Pakistan.

Munir's statement came amidst Pakistan launching fresh air strikes targeting terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan late Friday, hours after Islamabad and Kabul extended their two-day ceasefire that had temporarily halted hostilities between the two sides.

Choose between “peace and chaos”, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) said, referring to Afghanistan while addressing a graduation ceremony of passing out army cadets at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul at Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The Taliban regime, he said, should act decisively against militants operating from its soil for terrorist activities in Pakistan.

All proxies using Afghan soil would be met with a response to “raise them to dust”, Munir warned.

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

The fresh strikes came amid representatives from the two countries being expected to meet in Doha, where the Qatari government is set to make an effort for mediation.

Islamabad has consistently urged the Taliban government to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghan territory for cross-border attacks. Kabul, however, denies these allegations, insisting that Afghan soil is not being used against any neighbouring country.

The situation deteriorated between the two neighbours following repeated terrorist attacks by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), allegedly using the Afghan soil, including one in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Orakzai district recently, which claimed the lives of 11 military personnel, including a Lt Colonel and a Major.