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Scene of assassination attempt on President Karzai by forces of Pakistan’s Baitullah Mehsud. “Baitullah Mehsud should know that we will go after him now and hit him in his house,” Karzai said.

Related Story And Video: Karzai Threatens To Send Troops Into Pakistan

Agencie France Presse:

Pakistan’s foreign office pledged that the country would defend its territorial sovereignty, state media said Monday after Afghanistan’s leader said cross-border attacks on militants were justified.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened on Sunday to attack Taliban insurgents on the soil of his supposed ally in the “war on terror”, saying his war-torn country had a right to do so in self-defence, a forceful warning to insurgents and the Pakistani government that his country is fed up with cross-border attacks.

Karzai said Afghanistan has the right to self defense, and because militants cross over from Pakistan “to come and kill Afghan and kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to do the same.”

Speaking at a Sunday news conference, Karzai warned Pakistan-based Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud that Afghan forces would target him on his home turf. Mehsud is suspected in last year’s assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

“Baitullah Mehsud should know that we will go after him now and hit him in his house,” Karzai said.

“And the other fellow, (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar of Pakistan should know the same,” Karzai continued. “This is a two-way road in this case, and Afghans are good at the two-way road journey. We will complete the journey and we will get them and we will defeat them. We will avenge all that they have done to Afghanistan for the past so many years.”

“Pakistan shall defend its territorial sovereignty,” foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq was quoted as saying by the government-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency.

“We have seen President Karzai’s statement (to) the media. We hope that it is not the re-initiation of the blame game by Afghanistan,” he said.

Afghan and Western officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan of failing to do enough to stop extremists operating on its territory and have expressed concerns over its recent negotiations with Taliban militants.

Islamabad rejects the claims, saying it has more than 90,000 troops in its tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan and that 1,000 soldiers have died fighting insurgents since 2001.

Sadiq said Pakistan had a “clear position on military action” under which Afghan, US-led and NATO troops take action on the Afghan side of the border, while Pakistani troops have “sole responsibility” in their territory.

“Any statement that negated this basic principle and did not show respect for the territorial sovereignty would not help in the war on terrorism and could be counterproductive,” he added.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday after Karzai’s comments that Islamabad would not “allow anyone to interfere in our affairs.”