ISLAMABAD: After the killing of a senior Pakistani police officer Tahir Khan Dawar in Afghanistan, both Islamabad and Kabul appear to have been locked in a another diplomatic row as Pakistan made written and verbal demarches to an Afghan diplomat in capital Islamabad.
Tahir Dawar, Superintendent of Police, funeral was held in Peshawar’s police line on Thursday night, after his body was handed over by Afghan officials to Pakistani official delegation at the Torkham border crossing that includes federal minister of state for Interior Shahryar Afridi.
Tahir Dawar was abducted in Islamabad on Oct. 26 and his mutilated body was found in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province this week.
“The sad episode of retrieval of the body of SP Tahir Khan Drawar, following his brutal murder in Afghanistan two days ago, ended as an official delegation brought it back today,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in statement on Thursday evening.
The statement added: “Afghan Cd’A ( Chargé d’affaires) in Islamabad was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs twice yesterday, and again this afternoon to register our strong protest over the inordinate delay and manner of return of the body.”
Foreign Ministry statement said that “written and verbal demarches were made, which resulted in the visit of an official delegation to Afghanistan, who brought it back to Peshawar this evening.”
Pakistan hoped that Afghan authorities will offer full cooperation in ascertaining the circumstances under which a Pakistani police officer was found killed in Afghanistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday also ordered an inquiry into the killing of Tahir Khan Dawar
“Have followed the shocking tragedy of the murder of SP Tahir Khan Dawar & ordered KP govt to coordinate with Islamabad police in holding an inquiry immediately. MOS (Minister of State) Interior Shahryar Afridi has been tasked to oversee it with an urgency & present the report to me,” Prime Minister Khan said in tweet.
Pakistan’s military indirectly accused Kabul of having a hand in the incident. Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, condemned the murder.
“We have lost a brave police officer,” he added. “His abduction, moving to Afghanistan, murder and the follow up behavior of the Afghan authorities raise questions that indicate the involvement or resources of more than a terrorist organization in Afghanistan.
“The sad episode of retrieval of the “While investigations by Pakistani authorities are in process, we (reiterate our call for) Afghan security forces to cooperate with border fencing and bilateral border security coordination to deny the use of Afghan territory (in attacks) against Pakistan.”
Dawar, who was actively engaged in the fight against terrorism and had survived two suicide attacks in Bannu, was abducted by unknown individuals three weeks ago. His tortured body was found in Nangarhar province with a handwritten note that read: “The cop who arrested and killed several militants has met his fate.”
Purportedly written by an activist from Wilayat Khorasan, the Afghanistan chapter of Daesh, the message also warned others not to challenge the radical group, or they would face the same fate.
