Afghan Taliban | Pakistan

In an apparent attempt to offer an olive branch to Pakistan, the interim Afghan Taliban regime’s interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani on Friday said that his country was not a threat to any state and that it was ready to address misunderstandings. Speaking at the graduation ceremony at the Kabul Police Academy, Haqqani announced that the doors for negotiations were open. He said that his government continues to adhere to the commitments made under the Doha Agreement, not allowing Afghanistan’s soil to be used against any country, the Afghan Taliban’s official media reported. However, despite earlier promises and the commitments made in the Doha Agreement, cross-border infiltration and attacks by militants continue in Pakistan. Haqqani said that Afghanistan posed no threat to any country or region and that the Taliban leadership continued to strive to find ways for reasonable and durable solutions to end mistrust and misunderstanding of the international community. “The doors for negotiations to resolve curren...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday issued a demarche to the Afghan Taliban over its failure to rein in terrorist organisations operating from its soil after a deadly attack on a military camp in North Waziristan earlier today. Four security forces personnel were martyred when an attempt by terrorists to attack a security forces camp was foiled in the area of Boya in North Waziristan district. In a statement, the FO said that Pakistan condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms and identified the attackers as members of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a group under the TTP umbrella. “To convey our strong demarche, the Afghan Deputy Head of Mission was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the statement read. “The ministry conveyed Pakistan’s grave concern over the continued support and facilitation provided by the Afghan Taliban regime to the FAK/TTP, enabling them to carry out terrorist attacks against [the] Pakistan Military and the civilian population along the Pak-Afghan border and in adjoinin...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan on Thursday underscoring the importance of regional peace and stability agreed that Afghan Taliban regime must honour its commitments made to the international community and address Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns by taking concrete and verifiable actions against terrorist.

The shooting of National Guard members in Washington, DC, over which an Afghan immigrant has been charged, has nothing to do with Afghanistan’s people or its government, Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Wednesday. Muttaqi’s comments are the first on the incident by the Afghan Taliban government, and come a week after events in Washington when suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal is accused of opening fire on guard members, killing one and critically wounding another. On Tuesday, Lakanwal was charged with murder and other offences as he made his first court appearance, appearing remotely from a hospital bed. “This incident has nothing to do with the honourable people of Afghanistan or with the Afghan government,” Muttaqi said. “This is an individual criminal act, and the person who committed it was trained by the Americans themselves.” US officials have said Lakanwal was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan. He entered the US in 2021 through then-president Joe Biden’s Operation Allies Welc...

Military calls Afghan Taliban a global threat

DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has reiterated Pakistan's demand to the Afghan Taliban regime to stop facilitating terrorist groups.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said Pakistan was writing off the Afghan Taliban and had no further positive expectations from the group, amid consistently tense relations that show no sign of abating. Earlier today, Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, claimed that Pakistan had carried out overnight strikes in the neighbouring country. In a post on social media platform X, he said that Pakistan had “bombed” Khost province and carried out air strikes in Kunar and Paktika provinces. The military spokesperson rejected the allegations. Asked in an interview on Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ about whether Pakistan was denying carrying out any strikes or civilian casualties during the alleged strikes, the defence minister replied: “Both things are non-existent at this time. We do react and retaliate, but [targeting] civilians is not at all our manner. We have a disciplined force that has traditions and a code of conduct; we are not a ragtag group like the ...

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry refuted allegations by the Afghan Taliban on Tuesday that Pakistan had conducted overnight strikes in Afghanistan, state media reported. The statement by the head of the military’s media wing came hours after the Afghan Taliban spokesperson accused Pakistan of attacks in Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces. According to state broadcaster Pakistan TV, the military spokesperson refuted the claims of conducting strikes inside Afghanistan. “Pakistan Army has not attacked civilians inside Afghanistan,” it quoted him as saying. “Whenever Pakistan attacks someone, it announces it,” he said, according to local media. “In our view, there are no good and bad Taliban,” he said, adding that there was “no distinction” between terrorists. “The Taliban government should make decisions as a state, not as non-state actors,” said Gen Chaudhry. He also wondered how long the current set-up in Afghanistan would remain an interim o...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday stated that the Afghan Taliban only participated in talks with Pakistan this past week to prolong a temporary ceasefire between the two nations and did not take any action against terrorist elements operating from their soil. Talks between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban followed weeks of shuttle diplomacy after deadly border clashes last month. On Friday, the talks broke down, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying that the negotiations “entered an indefinite phase”, but a temporary ceasefire between Kabul and Islamabad still stands. In a lengthy statement published today, the FO said: “Anyone following the talks held under the mediation of brotherly countries of Turkiye and Qatar, could easily discern that the Taliban regime was only interested in prolonging the temporary ceasefire, but without taking concrete and verifiable actions against the TTP/FaK (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan/Fitna-al-Khawarij) and BLA/FaH (Balochistan Liberation Army/Fitna-al-Hindustan) elements pre...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday that the talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan are “over” and have “entered an indefinite phase” as negotiators failed to bridge deep differences between the two sides. “Right now, as we speak, negotiations are over,” said the defence minister while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’. Earlier, officials and sources said the talks stalled without any agreement. “The talks in Istanbul are deadlocked,” a senior security source told reporters, confirming that discussions had hit an impasse. The third round of Pakistan–Afghanistan talks began on Thursday in Istanbul and was planned to continue for two days. The defence minister added that the Afghan Taliban delegation again came to Istanbul “without any programme” and that they were not willing to sign a written agreement. “They said that they would only respect the verbal agreement, but there is no room to do that.” Asif elaborated that during the earlier rounds, the negotiators urged for a...

The Foreign Office has confirmed that Pakistan is engaged in ongoing negotiations with the Afghan Taliban in Istanbul, advising the public and media to disregard unverified claims circulating on social media.

The second round of talks between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban is set to take place in Istanbul on Thursday as scheduled, with Pakistan expected to reiterate its demand for an end to terrorism originating from Afghan soil.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday confirmed that Pakistan’s delegation had departed for tomorrow’s talks with the Afghan Taliban in Istanbul to find a solution to the current tensions between the two neighbours. A second round of discussions between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban delegations had begun in Istanbul on October 25, following days of border hostilities, but Islamabad’s long-standing concern over terror attacks emanating from Kabul remained a major point of contention, resulting in a stalemate. A breakthrough came after Turkiye and Qatar salvaged the dialogue process for the second time in less than a week, following Pakistan’s announcement on Oct 29 that the talks had “failed” and that its negotiators were preparing to return home. The talks produced a three-point understanding — the continuation of the ceasefire, the establishment of a monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure peace, and penalties for violations. The operational details of that mechanism are expected to be finalised ...

Pakistan has agreed to resume talks with the Afghan Taliban in Istanbul on Thursday, following renewed mediation efforts by Türkiye, marking a cautious step toward reviving dialogue aimed at easing border tensions and promoting regional stability.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the Afghan Taliban regime was to blame for the breakdown of talks between Islamabad and Kabul as the two countries engaged in a lengthy round of dialogue to try and achieve a permanent ceasefire and cessation of terrorist attacks originating from Afghan soil. Pakistan witnessed a rapid deterioration in ties with Afghanistan, with both sides engaging in recent border skirmishes, counter-statements and allegations. The hostilities began earlier this month when an attack was launched on Pakistan from Afghanistan on the night of October 11. The attack had followed an allegation from the Taliban of airstrikes by Pakistan into Afghanistan — an accusation which Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied. For its part, Islamabad has long demanded that the Afghan Taliban stop terror groups from using its soil against Pakistan. Taliban, however, deny the allegation of allowing terrorists to operate from Afghan soil. Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to grapple wit...

The second round of crucial negotiations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban is set to take place today in Türkiye, where both sides will discuss the establishment of a verifiable monitoring mechanism to counter cross-border terrorism.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has categorically ruled out the possibility of negotiations with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), clarifying that Islamabad is only engaged in talks with the Afghan Taliban regime.

A high-level Pakistani delegation, led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, is set to hold crucial talks with representatives of the Afghan Taliban in Doha today (Saturday).

akistan and the Afghan Taliban are set to hold crucial talks in Doha on Friday under a Qatari initiative aimed at resolving ongoing border tensions between the two neighbours.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday expressed a lack of confidence in the 48-hour ceasefire agreed between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as the latter has become a “proxy of Delhi”. Today’s fighting was the third major skirmish between Pakistan and Afghanistan within a week, following the incident in Kurram last night and earlier skirmishes that began on Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning at several locations. Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada ke Saath’ on Wednesday night, the defence minister said that the Afghan Taliban are “fighting a proxy war” on behalf of India and stated that they have become a “stooge” for New Delhi. “I have my doubts that the ceasefire will hold, because the [Afghan] Taliban are being sponsored by Delhi,” he added. “Right now, Kabul is fighting a proxy war for Delhi.” Asif reaffirmed Pakistan’s readiness and capability to defend itself in the face of further aggression from Kabul. “We have the capability and we will attack them, God willing, if the...