US says it supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against ‘terrorist attacks’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US State Department said on Thursday that Washington “supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks” as an intermittent conflict between Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan ‌continues.

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“The Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists,” the State Department added.

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Former allies Afghanistan and Pakistan fought their worst battle in years in February.

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Pakistan killed 29 terrorists on Sunday in operations carried out on the border with Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan’s Taliban said later in the week they launched airstrikes into Pakistani territory, while Islamabad said its forces had intercepted and shot down four rudimentary drones in the southern resource-rich province of Balochistan.

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Pakistan is nuclear-armed and its military capabilities are vastly superior to Afghanistan’s.

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However, the Afghan Taliban, ‌who ⁠govern Afghanistan, are adept at guerrilla warfare, hardened by decades of fighting US-led forces, before returning to power in 2021 when Washington withdrew.

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Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of Washington. ​Ties between Washington and Islamabad ⁠have improved since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

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Pakistan has also been a mediator in attempts to resolve the US-Israeli war with Iran.

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Washington considers the ⁠Afghan Taliban to be a terrorist group. The US explicitly categorized the Afghan Taliban as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” group.

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Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants that it blames for plotting attacks in Pakistan.Washington continues to press the Taliban to stop harbouring and sponsoring militant outfits, acknowledging that Pakistan has suffered heavily from these cross-border threats.

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The ⁠Afghan Taliban deny the accusations, say militancy is Pakistan’s internal problem and argue that Pakistan is deflecting blame for its own security failures.Security forces on Sunday carried out an “intelligence-based” ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, followed by “calibrated strikes” against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists belonging to Indian proxy Jamaatul Ahrar.