Days after US President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of doing “nothing” against terrorism, an emotional Pakistan foreign minister Khawaja Asif, in a series of tweets on Thursday, said: "You ask what we've done?... From our bases you carried out 57,800 attacks on Afghanistan...thousands of our civilians and soldiers became victims of the war initiated by you."
Tweeting out in Urdu, Asif talked of Pakistanis' sacrifices.
"Our forces are fighting an unusual war, there is an unending saga of sacrifices. Now, history teaches us not to blindly trust the US. We are feeling sorry they are not happy, but we will not compromise on our dignity anymore," said Asif, reported by The Times of India.
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"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!," tweeted Trump on January 1, 2018.
To this, Asif said if anyone was a fool it was Pakistan for getting involved in the US's war.
The foreign minister began his series of tweets by taking a jibe at the former dictator Pervez Musharraf, the then President of Pakistan when the 9/11 attacks occurred in New York.
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"A ruler surrendered in a single phone call, our country, we went through the worst bloodbath," said Asif.
Asif in a tweet challenged Trump's claim that the US has given Pakistan more than $33 billion as aid over the last 15 years, saying verification by an audit firm would prove the US president wrong.
Asif said not only did Pakistan find terrorists for the US, it also opened itself up for operatives of the now disgraced Blackwater, a firm of private military contractors.
"We issued tens of thousands of visas as a result of which the networks of Black Water spread across our country. And for the past four years, we have been cleaning up (their) rubbish," said Asif.
Meanwhile, the White House has said it would announce specific actions against Pakistan this week to force it to crack down on terrorists on its soil, reflecting Trump's tough stance against the country over the issue.
"They can do more to stop terrorism and we want them to do that," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The White House said it would likely to announce actions to pressure Pakistan within days.
"We'll continue to keep you posted as those decisions are finalised," Sanders said.
"In terms of specific actions, I think you’ll see some more details come out on that in the next 24 to 48 hours..." Sanders told reporters on Tuesday during a news conference in which she asked Pakistan to step up its actions against terrorists and militant groups operating from its soil.
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Fox News reported that the announcement in this regard is expected Thursday.
(With PTI inputs)
