Pakistan Afghanistan tension sharpened on Saturday after the information ministry accused the Afghan Taliban of “shifting blame” and a “persistent refusal” to confront terrorism coming from Afghanistan. The rebuke answered remarks by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who blamed Islamabad’s “wrong policies” for blocking a settlement and said Pakistan lacked the readiness needed for a peaceful end to differences.
Islamabad’s response to Taliban remarks
The ministry said Mujahid’s comments showed what it called a deeply misguided approach and an unwillingness to face the root cause of strained ties with Pakistan. It argued that the Taliban leadership keeps criticising Islamabad’s policies while ignoring what it described as the single most important issue harming bilateral relations: the failure to stop terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.
Pakistan restated an unequivocal position that terrorism is a red line and that the security of its citizens is non-negotiable. The ministry said Islamabad will not tolerate terrorist sanctuaries across the border that endanger Pakistan, nor allow its people to remain targets of attacks originating from Afghanistan. Shifting blame, hollow assurances and questioning Pakistan’s policies, it said, will neither end the crisis nor free Kabul of its responsibilities.
What Pakistan says must change
Islamabad again framed the Taliban’s refusal to address terrorism as the principal obstacle to normal relations. It affirmed that Pakistan reserves the right to take all necessary measures, in accordance with international law, to eliminate threats to national security wherever they originate, and said responsibility for tackling those threats rests with the Afghan Taliban authorities. “Pakistan’s resolve to protect its people must never be mistaken for weakness,” the ministry declared.
Officials have repeatedly urged Kabul to dismantle sanctuaries linked in particular to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—a militant group that Pakistan says uses Afghan territory for attacks inside the country—and say those appeals have gone unheeded. Multiple rounds of talks last year, facilitated by Qatar and Turkiye, failed to yield a workable deal, with the Pakistani government saying Taliban officials gave no assurances on the key issues. Efforts this year involving China also produced no breakthrough.
Pakistan Afghanistan border tension has not stayed only in diplomatic statements. In September, Pakistan carried out calibrated airstrikes in the border region after terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. That was followed by drone incursions from across the border, which Islamabad said were shot down, and further retaliatory airstrikes. Skirmishes continued in October; security sources said Pakistani forces responded to unprovoked fire from the Afghan side along the border in Kurram and at Angoor Adda in Lower South Waziristan. On Tuesday, Afghan security forces opened unprovoked fire on border posts and residential areas in the Angoor Adda area, killing one local and injuring a family of five.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Last year: Qatar- and Turkiye-facilitated talks between the two sides failed to produce a workable solution on core security issues.
- This year: China-backed efforts likewise brought no breakthrough.
- September: Pakistan conducted calibrated border airstrikes after terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; drone incursions followed and were shot down, with further retaliatory strikes reported.
- October: Border fire continued in Kurram and at Angoor Adda in Lower South Waziristan, according to security sources.
- Tuesday: Unprovoked fire on posts and homes at Angoor Adda killed one local and injured a family of five.
- Saturday: The information ministry publicly rejected the Taliban spokesman’s blame-shifting and restated terrorism as the central obstacle in Pakistan Afghanistan tension.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan aur Afghanistan ke darmiyan tension phir saaf nazar aa raha hai. Islamabad kehti hai ke Afghanistan ki zameen se aane wala terrorism asl masla hai. Taliban taraf se kaha gaya ke Pakistan ki policies is jhagre ko suljhane nahi de rahin. Border ke qareeb rehne walon ke liye yeh seedha safety aur aman ka sawal hai.
