Amid increasing cases of clashes at its border with Afghanistan, Pakistan issued a veiled warning to Afghanistan.
On Friday, clashes between frontier-guarding troops of the two South Asian countries escalated at the border crossing in Kharlachi in Kurram district, which is located in the Kohat Division of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
This not only resulted in mass migration of villagers from nearby villages but also the closure of the Kharlachi border crossing as the skirmishes continued to raise deep concerns among the locals living in the area.
As the situation at the border remained tense, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry stressed that it has asked the Taliban* government in Kabul to control the situation.
"Pakistan has conveyed its deepest concerns about the situation and urges the Afghan authorities to ensure that the soil of Afghanistan is not used to threaten Pakistan’s security and that it should take effective action against terror groups that continue to threaten Pakistan, Pakistani public and law enforcement and security officials," Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a press conference in Islamabad.
She emphasized that Pakistan would defend the country's sovereignty at any cost.
"Pakistan stands ready to defend itself against any threat to its security and sovereignty," Baloch added.
She also asserted Islamabad will not hold talks with terrorists, an alleged reference to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP**), an outlawed radical Islamic group, accused of carrying out a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
*under UN sanctions
**banned terrorist organisation in Russia and other countries