Islamabad, Sept. 1, Reuter — intruding aircraft from Afghanistan bombed a Pakistani village on Thursday, a day after the Kabul Government proposed urgent talks on the Afghan war.
One man was killed and at least six people were injured when two bombs dropped by three or four planes exploded on the outskirts of Dalazak 30 km (20 miles) inside Pakistan, a senior local official said.
Analysts said the dawn intrusion north of Peshawar on the northwest frontier was one of the deepest in the nine year war. It was not clear if the planes were Soviet or Afghan.
A few hours later the new Soviet ambassador Viktor Yakunin presented his credentials to acting president Ghulam Ishaq Khan but there was no indication whether the incident was raised.
On Wednesday, Afghan foreign minister Abdul Wakil wrote to the United Nations proposing urgent talks between the four parties to the Geneva Accords which are supposed to end cross border attacks.
Pakistan and Afghanistan, the two main signatories, pledged to end interference in each other’s affairs under the pact while the Soviet Union promised to withdraw all its troops by next February 15. The Soviet Union and United States are guarantors.
Since the Accords were signed in April, Kabul has repeatedly accused Islamabad of continuing to arm Afghan guerrillas. Pakistan has countered that Afghan forces have bombed and shelled border areas.
Wakil’s proposal was condemned by a western diplomat as a propaganda ploy, while a foreign ministry official said Pakistan had not received word on the talks from the U.N. or Afghanistan.
Spokesmen for several Mujahideen guerrilla groups based in Pakistan, said they would welcome talks but only with the Soviet Union.
The Mujahideen, who were not part of the accord, consider Moscow to be the real power in Afghanistan.
Robert Oakley, the new U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, also presented his credentials on Thursday just over two weeks after the death of his predecessor in the same plane crash that killed President Mohammad ZiaulHaq.
Washington moved swiftly to fill the vacuum left by the death of Ambassador Arnold Raphel and Oakley paid tribute to the close relationship between the United States and Prunstan.
“Ours is a relationship which rests on a bedrock of shared interests,” he said in a statement, “despite the shock of our mutual tragedy, that foundation remains intact and compels cooperation.”
Dundparkisan is closest U.S. ally in Thxus Pariner in its military and political support of the Afghan guerrillas.
Oakley also lauded Pakistan’s leadership transition following Zia’s death, saying the country’s constitutional system had carried the day and confounded its sceptics.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 9, 1988
