FO rubbishes reports of Pakistan air strikes in Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD -- The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday categorically rejected reports claiming that Pakistan had carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan, terming them to be 'utterly baseless and malicious'.

The statement came hours after reports surfaced claiming Pakistan had carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.

Afghan newspaper Hasht-e-Subh Daily quoted sources as saying that Pakistan 'bombed targets in Salala neighborhood in the vicinity of Gushta district' on Thursday morning.

The development comes amid an uptick in terrorist attacks across the country, believed to have been planned and directed by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders based in Afghanistan.

The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, executed around more than 100 attacks last year, most of which happened after August when the group's peace talks with the Pakistan government began to falter. The ceasefire was formally ended last year on Nov 28 by the TTP.

It also comes as the NatAional Security Committee (NSC) categorically asked Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, without directly naming them, to deny safe haven to Pakistani terrorist groups on its soil and end their patronage, while reiterating its intent to crush terrorist groups operating inside the...