athar abbas

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected US accusations that Pakistani armed forces allow insurgents to fire on American troops across the border in Afghanistan.

“I completely reject this, this is wrong and baseless,” military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.

US officials have reported a sharp rise in cross-border attacks against its forces in eastern Afghanistan as relations deteriorated after US forces raided Pakistan to kill the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, in May.

Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, the deputy US commander in Afghanistan, said that rocket and mortar fire against his forces appears to come from within sight of Pakistani military posts.

“In some locations from time to time you will see what just appears to us to be a collaboration... or at a minimum a looking the other way,” he said.

He said that the border forces come from Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps, who are locally recruited and not as highly trained as army units.

Asked about Scaparrotti's comments, Abbas told AFP: “I told you, it is not true, all this is wrong.”

Opinion

Editorial

Under siege
Updated 03 May, 2024

Under siege

Whether through direct censorship, withholding advertising, harassment or violence, the press in Pakistan navigates a hazardous terrain.
Meddlesome ways
03 May, 2024

Meddlesome ways

AFTER this week’s proceedings in the so-called ‘meddling case’, it appears that the majority of judges...
Mass transit mess
03 May, 2024

Mass transit mess

THAT Karachi — one of the world’s largest megacities — does not have a mass transit system worth the name is ...
Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...