WASHINGTON (Dunya News) – The United States expressed “regret” at the loss of lives at a military post inside Pakistan and urged the Taliban “to ensure that terrorist attacks are not launched from Afghan soil.”
State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a media briefing here on Monday that the United States wanted that "Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.”
Replying to a question, he said the US understands that “Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to the attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday.”
Spokesperson Patel added: “We deeply regret the loss of life and injustices sustained during the attack in Pakistan, and the loss of civilian lives during the strike in Afghanistan. We urge the Taliban to ensure that terrorist attacks are not launched from Afghan soil, and we urge Pakistan to exercise restraint and ensure civilians are not harmed in their counterterrorism efforts.
"And we urge both sides to address any differences. We remain committed to ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists who wish to harm the United States or our partners and allies.”
He, however, insisted that “every step possible is taken” during operations that “it’s the perpetrators that are being held to account and not the civilians.”
MEETINGS WITH PAKISTANI LEADERSHIP
Responding to a question regarding the US assistance to Pakistan in counterterrorism operations and intelligence sharing, he admitted that Washington “is in regular communication with Pakistani leaders to discuss Afghanistan in detail, including through our counterterrorism dialogue and other bilateral consultations.”
Regarding Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome’s meetings with newly-elected Pakistani leadership, the spokesperson said the “ambassador on March 15th did meet with Prime Minister Sharif to discuss a broad range of bilateral issues – partnering with the Government of Pakistan on regional security; the United States’s support for continued economic reforms with and through the International Monetary Fund; trade and investment, education, climate change, and other private sector led economic growth issues that we continue to engage with our Pakistani partners on. And they discussed a number of, range of other issues as well.”