Islamabad: Pakistan’s defence minister Khuwaja Asif on Friday has hinted for a full-fledged military operation against Taliban is they not halted terrorist activities in the country.
Talking to news agency Reuters, the defence minister has given a warning to the insurgents to not violating ceasefire.
Asif told Reuters that the government would not hesitate to bomb militant hideouts or send forces into the tribal areas if the Taliban did not abide by the ceasefire announced last weekend.
“It will not take months now. We’ll have to march in the month of March,” Asif said in the interview, describing the government’s response if insurgents persisted in their attacks despite the ceasefire.
“If there is a ceasefire, it has to be complete. Without that, we just can’t afford to have talks with the Taliban.”
Pakistan fears that the end of the U.S. combat mission in neighbouring Afghanistan this year could energise a resilient insurgency straddling their shared frontier.
