Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir called on President Asif Ali Zardari at the Presidency on Wednesday, where both discussed internal and external security threats.
The meeting comes in the wake of escalating border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with security forces repelling an attack by the Afghan Taliban along the Balochistan border this morning and killing 15 to 20 fighters, the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
Today’s clash, the third major skirmish between Pakistan and Afghanistan within a week, follows the incident in Kurram on Tuesday night and earlier skirmishes that began on Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning at several locations.
According to a statement from the President’s Secretariat, Field Marshal Munir briefed the president on Pakistan’s overall internal and external security landscape.
“He (army chief) also apprised the president of the recent security situation arising from the aggressive and provocative actions of the Afghan Taliban regime, as well as the measured and befitting response by the Armed Forces of Pakistan,” the statement read.
It added that the president reaffirmed that Pakistan will defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs and expressed full confidence in the “strength, valour, capacity, and preparedness of Pakistan’s Armed Forces”.
President Zardari “lauded their (armed forces) vigilance and professionalism in defending the nation’s frontiers and in swiftly repelling cross-border attacks along the Afghan border”, the statement concluded.
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