ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Thursday that an investigation is underway to ascertain as to when and where the killings of Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers took place, and if necessary, the Afghan government will be contacted too.
In a letter issued on social media on late Sunday night, the Mohmand Agency Taliban chief Umar Khalid Khurrasani claimed that they have killed 23 FC soldiers, who were kidnapped by the terror outfit in 2010 from Shongari checkpost in Mohmand Agency, to avenge what he said was the custodial killing of Taliban fighters in various parts of Pakistan.
In her weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that Pakistan and Iran are deliberating on border issues in the ongoing meetings, adding that all those elements who are trying to disturb our ties will be dealt in a coordinated manner.
The spokesperson said that Pakistan and Iran enjoy deep rooted fraternal‚ historic and cultural ties. She said that viewing Pakistan-Iran ties through the prism of few incidents is not appropriate. She said that both the countries need to re-negotiate on the timeline of gas pipeline project.
The FO spokesperson further said that dialogue between Afghan Taliban and government is an internal matter of Afghanistan.
Moreover, she said that there is no veracity in reports about sending of 100,000 Pakistani troops to Saudi Arabia. She said that Pakistan is already facing threats at eastern and western borders, and can’t afford sending large scale troops to Saudi Arabia.
To a question about intra-Kashmir trade‚ she said that Pakistan and India are going to hold meeting of working group on trade soon. She said that various proposals will be discussed in this regard.
The spokesperson said that both the sides have already agreed on resumption of trade.