Pakistan attacks 'justified'
2008-06-15 16:31
Kabul - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday threatened to attack Taliban insurgents on Pakistani soil, saying his war-torn country had a right to do so out of "self-defence".
The warning came just days after US-led forces carried out an air strike in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
Washington says it was targeting militants, but Pakistan says 11 of its soldiers were killed.
It also came two days after more than 1 100 prisoners including hundreds of militants escaped from a jail in restive southern Kandahar - the birthplace of the Taliban movement - in a daring attack staged by the insurgents.
"Afghanistan has the right to destroy terrorist nests on the other side of the border in self-defence," Karzai told a news conference in Kabul.
Swift response from Pakistan
"When they cross the border from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and coalition troops, it gives us exactly the right to go back and do the same," he added, in his toughest comments yet on stamping out militancy along the border.
The stark warning earned a swift response from Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who said that his country would not tolerate any violations of its territorial sovereignty.
"We will neither interfere in the internal affairs of any country, nor will we allow anyone to interfere in our affairs," Gilani told private ARY-OneWorld television.
"Such statements will not help in the normalisation of friendly relations between the two countries and will hurt the sentiments of people on both sides of the border," Gilani said.
He added, however, that he wanted "friendly" ties with Kabul.