'Pakistan’s rocket attacks' will negatively impact bilateral relations, warns Karzai

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that “Pakistan’s rocket attacks” into Afghanistan will have a negative impact on bilateral relations between the two countries, the Afghan state media reported Saturday. Karzai’s remarks came after the governor of Kunar province Shuja Malek Jalala claimed that a rocket from Pakistan on January 31 had hit a house in Marwari district, killing three and wounding five others, including children. Jalala, however, had not mentioned who fired the rocket. The governor had also alleged that 17 rocket attacks had been carried out last month, further stating that no one got hurt in the attacks. “President Karzai strongly condemned Pakistan’s rocket attack on Marwari district of Kunar province,” Afghan state Bakhtar News Agency reported. The Afghan president said that the launching of rockets from the other side of the Durand Line is against the principles of good neighbourliness, the news agency further stated. Karzai instructed the Kunar governor to render possible assistance to the families of those killed and wounded in the January 31 incident. Pakistani officials have not commented on the Afghan leader’s claim as yet. Both countries routinely accuse each other of cross-border shelling which is a major irritant in the relationship between the two neighbours. Previous incidents On its part, Islamabad said that chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Maulvi Fazalullah, has regrouped his fighters in Nuristan province after he crossed the border after the 2009 military operation in Swat. The TTP has carried out several attacks on Pakistani border posts, killing dozens of security personnel. Also, in February last year, Afghan officials arrested former deputy chief of the TTP, Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, in eastern Nangarhar province. Faqir was leading his militants in Kunar, bordering Bajaur tribal region where he had once led the Taliban against the security forces. He is still in Afghan custody. Pakistan had demanded his handover but Kabul rejected his extradition on the plea that there is no agreement on exchange of prisoners.