ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: Pakistan has approached the United Nations relief agencies to verify the number of Pakistanis killed in Afghanistan in action.

Foreign Office Spokesman Aziz Khan told at the daily press briefing on Thursday that since Pakistan had no presence inside Afghanistan, it had asked the UN agencies, who are planning to move in, to verify the number of Pakistanis killed in recent fighting.

ISPR chief Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi allayed the concern about the security on the western borders after the takeover of Kabul by the Northern Alliance, saying there was no movement southwards.

In some Pakhtoon-dominated areas, he said, local tribal elders and commanders had risen against the Taliban and taken over those towns and cities.

As regards the possibility of some Taliban or members of Al Qaeda crossing over into Pakistan, the ISPR chief said that security had already been beefed up to prevent any unauthorized crossing into the country. Nobody without having valid documents would be allowed to enter Pakistan, he declared.

In reply to a question whether the fall of Kabul would hamper the process of setting up a broad-based government, the FO spokesman said that international community as well as the Six-plus-Two group had called for the broad-based government.

He pointed out that the United Nations Security Council had adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a broad-based, multi-ethnic government in Afghanistan.

He read out some portions of the resolution in which it had expressed strong support for the efforts of Afghan people for the establishment of a transitional government leading to a permanent setup.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...