Pakistan to “go into terrorist hideouts and teach them a lesson”, Info minister Balochistan Jan Achakzai

Balochistan caretaker Minister for Information Jan Achakzai today warned that Pakistan would “go into terrorist hideouts and teach them a lesson”, if if there was no let up in militant activity from Afghanistan.

Jan Achakzai said: “It is a fact of life that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been provided arms [and] low-level Afghan commanders are with them.”

The interim minister while addressing a press conference in Quetta, said that Pakistan had been hosting Afghan refugees for the last 40 years.But in return, instead of discouraging terrorism and terror, it is concerning that they are being given militant hideouts and advanced weaponry.

The minister said that Pakistan had placed its demands in front of the Afghan Taliban and had repeatedly made it clear that it was against all kinds of militancy.

“For us, the crime of terrorists and their facilitators is equal,” Achakzai said. “We know how to give a befitting response to terrorism.

“As far as engagement [with Kabul] is concerned, we have engagement at the Foreign Office level,” he said, adding that Pakistan was also engaging with Afghan authorities with regards to the government’s repatriation plan for illegal immigrants.