Pakistan on Saturday called recent remarks by Richard Lindsay, the UK special envoy on Afghanistan, about border tensions “one-sided,” saying they did not fully reflect the situation.
The ministry said in a statement that Islamabad had seen social media posts by Richard Lindsay but considered them “devoid of an accurate assessment of ground realities” along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
He said cross-border attacks and attempts by militants to infiltrate Pakistan from Afghanistan had continued, despite what he described as a “goodwill” pause in hostilities announced by Pakistan in March.
According to Andrabi, such incidents have resulted in the deaths of 52 civilians and injuries to 84 others inside Pakistan in recent weeks.
He said Pakistani forces had responded with restraint, targeting what he described as Taliban positions and related infrastructure, while also preventing several infiltration attempts from Afghanistan’s territory.
Andrabi also rejected Taliban statements on civilian casualties from Pakistani operations, calling them “unsubstantiated.”
He said statements that do not address what he described as the “root causes of terrorism” fail to present an impartial picture of the situation, and urged a better understanding of regional dynamics and Pakistan’s efforts in countering militancy.
The comments came after Lindsay, the UK envoy, concluded a visit to Kabul during which he called for de-escalation of tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan, saying there is no sustainable military solution to the crisis.
Lindsay also urged the reopening of border crossings to allow humanitarian supplies to reach vulnerable populations, warning that continued restrictions could deprive more than 1 million women and children of essential services.
He expressed concern about civilian casualties from both militant attacks and military operations and emphasized the need for dialogue between the two sides.
The Taliban-Pakistan border clashes started in late February. UN figures show that more than 70 civilians were killed in eastern Afghanistan in the first two weeks of the clashes. Moreover, UN figures show that 269 civilians were killed in Pakistan airstrike on a rehabilitation center in the east of Kabul on March 16.
In a recent incident last week, UN confirmed that at least seven people, including civilians, were killed in Pakistan attacks on parts of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan.
Despite a series of diplomatic efforts, including informal talks in Istanbul and earlier engagements in China, tensions between Pakistan and Taliban have remained high, with periodic border clashes reported in recent weeks.
