Pakistan has lodged a firm diplomatic protest with the Afghan Taliban administration following a deadly terrorist attack in Karachi, confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. This move was triggered by concrete evidence connecting Afghan nationals to the assault, including the capture of one attacker alive at the scene.
In a coordinated diplomatic effort, Islamabad conveyed its protest to the interim Afghan government through two distinct channels. The Afghan chargé d’affaires was summoned to Pakistan’s foreign ministry in Islamabad late Sunday night to receive the formal reprimand. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, delivered a parallel demarche directly to the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul.
The high-level diplomatic protests were necessitated by findings from the ongoing investigation into the Karachi attack. Cross-border intelligence confirmed direct involvement of Afghan nationals in executing the assault. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, emphasized that the participation of Afghan nationals, including the apprehended attacker, demonstrates once again that Afghan territory and individuals are being used to plan terrorist activities inside Pakistan.
This diplomatic confrontation follows a significant security breach on Sunday, when three Pakistan Rangers personnel in Sindh were killed and four others wounded. Heavily armed militants launched a coordinated bomb and gun assault on a paramilitary camp located in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar area.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated the attack targeted the Rangers Camp in Block 5 and was carried out by Jamaatul Ahrar, described by the military as an “Indian proxy.” The assailants first detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VB-IED) at the camp’s main gate before attempting to breach the perimeter under heavy gunfire.
Paramilitary forces engaged the attackers in a fierce 15-minute gunfight, killing three militants on the spot and capturing the fourth, who was wounded and later identified as the Afghan national referenced in the Foreign Ministry’s demarche.
