The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday said that Pakistan’s recent strikes against neighbouring Afghanistan were carried out to ensure the “safety of Pakistani citizens” and to prevent “imminent terrorist attacks”.

FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi made the statement while responding to a question during his weekly press briefing.

Pakistan targeted terrorist camps and hideouts overnight in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan over the weekend, with an official saying that “more than 80” terrorists had been killed in the air strikes. The strikes were the most extensive military engagement between the two neighbours since border clashes broke out in October last year.

During Thursday’s press briefing, the FO spokesperson was asked about civilian casualties in the strikes, the total number of terrorists killed, and the locations of the camps targeted.

In his response, he said, “Let me begin by reiterating that the intelligence-based selective targeting of these seven terrorist camps and their hideouts in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, was primarily to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani citizens and to prevent imminent terrorist attacks against Pakistan, particularly against our law enforcement officials and our civilians living near the border regions”.

Andrabi stressed that the strikes were “proportional, based on careful planning with necessary due diligence and were directed solely against identified terrorist camps and hideouts”.

“We exercised utmost caution to prevent any harm to civilians,” the spokesperson said.

He recalled statements made by the UN Security Council in reaction to terrorist attacks against Pakistan, with the latest being about the February 6 attack on an imambargah in Islamabad.

The spokesperson maintained that the UNSC had “repeatedly underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, abettors, sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice”.

He further added that the UNSC had also urged states to cooperate with Pakistan in the matter, stressing that Pakistan’s actions must be viewed through the above-mentioned context.

He said that Pakistan “remained committed to peace in the region” and called on the Afghan Taliban government to “comply with these obligations”.

However, FO maintained that Pakistan would take “all necessary measures in the exercise of the right to self-defence against terrorist attacks emanating from Afghanistan”.

Responding to the third part of the question regarding the location of the terrorist camps, the spokesperson recalled the Feb 21 statement issued by the Ministry of Information in the aftermath of the strikes and said he had “nothing to further add in terms of either the location or numbers of terrorists killed”.

During the briefing, the FO spokesperson was also asked about India’s response to the strikes, specifically the statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), wherein it had condemned Pakistan for the move.

The FO spokesperson said that Pakistan “rejected” the statement and maintained that the statement vindicated Pakistan’s stance that “India continues to aid and abet terrorism” in the country through its support for Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other terrorist organisations in the region.

The spokesperson further said that Pakistan held “concrete evidence of India’s involvement in sponsoring and abetting terrorism”.

The spokesperson maintained that the statement issued by the MEA and another issued after the recent spate of attacks in Balochistan, “reinforce this conclusion”.

“These statements provide additional evidence, circumstantial evidence, of India’s complicity in promoting terrorism in Pakistan,” FO said.

He maintained that the message that Pakistan “will respond swiftly, strongly in exercise of our right to self-defence” had been put across “through all international stakeholders”.

He reiterated Pakistan’s demand for action against “terrorist outfits operating with impunity and with freedom from Afghan soil”.

In response to another question, the FO spokesperson also said that he was not aware of “any structured dialogue” between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Asked if Qatar was playing any diplomatic role between the two countries, given the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Doha, the FO spokesperson said: “On the role of Qatar, the issue may have come up in a broader context”.

Referring to PM Shehbaz’s recent meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, he said that the two leaders exchanged views on regional and national developments, emphasising the importance of dialogue, diplomacy and peaceful resolution of disputes.

“To that extent, of course, we would welcome Qatar’s role in settling all these issues, including Afghanistan,” he said.

Pakistan demands fair trial for perpetrators of Samjhota Express attack

In response to being asked to comment on the 19th anniversary of the Samjhota Express attack, the spokesperson said, “We express our severe disappointment at the Indian government’s callousness towards the plight of families of Pakistani nationals and others, including Indian nationals, I believe, who await justice even after the passage of so many years.”

On February 18, 2007, two crude incendiary bombs exploded inside the security-sealed Samjhota Express train headed from Delhi to Lahore, killing 68 people, including 44 Pakistanis.

Andrabi maintained that the Indian government’s response confirmed its “role as an official and political accomplice in the heinous terrorist attack carried out on its soil against innocent civilians, Pakistanis and others alike”.

FO also condemned the “shameless acquittal and exoneration” of the four perpetrators behind the attack. He expressed concern that the “Hindutva extremism and saffron terror had motivated this inhumane attack 19 years ago, has intensified manifold under the current regime in India”.

On that note, the spokesperson demanded a “fair trial” of the perpetrators, stressing that the “families of innocent Pakistani nationals mercilessly killed at the hands of the Hindutva-motivated extremists deserve justice”.

He further added: “India routinely indulges in anti-Pakistan propaganda, including by exploiting the bogey of terrorism. And in this backdrop, India’s own systemic exoneration of the perpetrators of the Samjhauta terrorist attack is yet another example of Indian duplicity and state sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan.“