Washington says Pakistan “has the right to defend itself against terrorism”

4 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday that Pakistan “has the right to defend itself against terrorism” after an announcement by the Pakistani army against the Taliban.

“We are aware of the recent statement by the National Security Committee of Pakistan. The Pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorist attacks and Pakistan has the right to defend itself against terrorism,” Price told a news conference.

Likewise, the State spokesperson has indicated that the Biden Administration “continues” to ask “the Taliban to maintain the commitment they have made to ensure that Afghan soil is not used again as a launching pad for international terrorist attacks.”

The Pakistani Army announced last week that it “will eliminate the threat”, given the uptick in attacks by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), known as the Pakistani Taliban, after announcing the end of the ceasefire declared in the framework of his contacts with Islamabad.

The Armed Forces said Army Chief Asim Munir, who took office in November, led a meeting on a “comprehensive and professional review of the Army’s organizational affairs,” without elaborating. Likewise, he revealed that during it “it has been decided to fight against terrorists without any distinction and eliminate this threat, in line with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.”

TTP has carried out several attacks, notably in Khiber Pakhtunkhua and Balochistan, in recent months, while security forces managed to prevent a car bombing in the capital Islamabad last week, which resulted in the death of the officer who intercepted the vehicle.

The TTP group, which differs from the Afghan Taliban in organizational matters but follows the same rigorous interpretation of Sunni Islam, brings together more than a dozen Islamist militant groups operating in Pakistan, where they have killed some 70,000 people in two decades of violence.