Balochistan caretaker Information Minister Jan Achakzai on Wednesday (Dec 13) posted on X and subsequently deleted a series of proposed actions in response to a deadly terror attack on a military camp. Achakzai suggested that Pakistan should offer “drone bases to target militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan”.
Achakzai said “special targeted operations, air strikes, border closure with Afghanistan, return of Afghan refugees, anti-TTP political opposition gathering in Islamabad” must be considered.
“Last, offer US drone bases to target [Al Qaeda] and other militants sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” he wrote in the now-deleted post on X.
The US drone bases in Pakistan have remained a controversial topic for a long time. Washington has routinely used these bases to eliminate targets in Afghanistan. Former al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, sitting in Kabul was also killed in July 2022 by the US drone strikes.
The Shamsi airbase in Balochistan is one of the well-known bases that US utilised to target the non-state actors. However, after a NATO strike in 2011 in Salala which claimed the lives of two dozen Pakistani soldiers, the US was asked to vacate the base.
General Munir’s US visit
The suggestion by Achakzai comes in the backdrop of Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir’s visit to Washington. Munir is attempting to convince US security officials that the rise of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State’s Khorasan offshoot (IS-K) pose a significant threat not only to Islamabad but to the US as well.
According to a brief statement released by the Pentagon, Munir met Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday and discussed “recent regional security developments and potential areas for bilateral defence cooperation”.
TTP, once considered an ally by the Pakistani government, has fashioned itself on the lines of the Afghan Taliban. Last year, the militant outfit announced it was calling off a ceasefire agreed upon with the Pakistani government. Since then, a series of terror attacks have killed a number of civilians as well as military personnel.
On Tuesday, at least 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed while dozens were injured after a vehicle containing explosives rammed into the building in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the Afghan border.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Pakistan later released a detailed statement, which said a counter-operation led by the army resulted in the death of 27 terrorists.
“An intelligence-based operation was conducted in general area Darazinda on the reported presence of terrorists. During the conduct of operation, terrorists’ hideout was busted and seventeen terrorists were sent to hell,” the ISPR said.
(With inputs from agencies)
