A day after the US said that it has not left behind any weapons during its withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-Ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday said terrorists were using American-made arms against his country.
Highlighting that American-made weapons are being sold in the black market not just in Pakistan but also throughout the region as well as the Gulf countries, Kakar emphasised that Islamabad was standing firm on its stance regarding United States' weapons being used for terrorism in Pakistan, Geo News said in a report.
Kakar’s remarks came in response to a statement by US State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel during a press briefing on Tuesday, days after at least 17 Pakistani soldiers were killed and a training base of the Pakistan Air Force was attacked by terrorists.
“We are aware of the reports of multiple attacks on Pakistani security forces and facilities earlier in November and we offer our condolences to the families of the victims, but I want to be very clear about this: There was no equipment left behind by American forces during the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Patel said.
“I will also add that while large-scale military grant assistance remains suspended, we have partnered with Pakistan for more than 40 years to support law enforcement, the rule of law, counternarcotics efforts, and other areas in the security space, and will continue to value our bilateral relationship,” Patel said.
Kakar said that America's “acknowledgement or disavowal of its weapons being used in Pakistan is irrelevant, as there is objective evidence which confirms that these weapons are making their way into the black market and are being used too.” Pakistan's stance is grounded in facts and not conspiracy theories, the Geo News reported, quoting Kakar.
The premier also spoke about the disappearance of the 150,000-strong Afghan military within a mere two days, raising questions over the unaccounted-for fate of their weapons, the report quoted him asking, “Where have the small arms and equipment they possessed gone?” Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year. While many violent incidents target civilians, some of them have been against security personnel in the country too.
On November 3, a bomb blast near a police patrol killed at least five people and injured 21 others in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
On October 31, a policeman was killed after unknown militants opened fire on a police camp in Dera Ismail Khan. The same day, two soldiers were killed in an IED blast in the South Waziristan district.
On September 29, a powerful suicide blast ripped through a mosque in restive Balochistan province, killing at least 52 people and injuring over 50 others gathered to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday while hours later, another blast at a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu city killed at least three people and injured five others.
In July, as many as 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan.
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