Pakistani Defence Minister Asif says Pakistan Taliban operates ‘in connivance’ with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban.
Printed On 20 Oct 2025
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has mentioned that his nation’s fragile ceasefire settlement with Afghanistan depends upon whether or not the latter reins in armed teams attacking throughout their shared border.
“All the pieces hinges on this one clause,” mentioned Asif in an interview with information company Reuters on Monday, after the 2 international locations reached a ceasefire settlement brokered by Qatar and Turkiye the day gone by.
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The truce adopted per week of lethal border clashes that noticed relations plummet to their lowest level since Afghanistan’s Taliban returned to energy after the exit of US and NATO troops from the nation in 2021.
The fighting was triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul management fighters from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella of a number of armed teams generally generally known as the Pakistan Taliban, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.
“Something coming from Afghanistan shall be [a] violation of this settlement,” mentioned Asif, who led the talks together with his Afghan counterpart Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob. He mentioned that the written settlement stipulated there wouldn’t be any incursions.
The minister mentioned that TTP operated “in connivance” with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, an allegation that the latter has denied. Afghanistan accuses the Pakistani navy of spreading misinformation and sheltering ISIL (ISIS)-linked fighters to undermine its stability and sovereignty.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, mentioned that underneath the phrases of the settlement, “neither nation will undertake any hostile actions towards the opposite, nor will they help teams finishing up assaults towards the Authorities of Pakistan”.
Mujahid mentioned the international locations had agreed on refraining “from focusing on one another’s safety forces, civilians, or essential infrastructure”.
The Pakistan Taliban, which has been waging a battle for years towards Islamabad in a bid to overthrow the federal government, has accelerated assaults in latest months to focus on Pakistan’s navy.
Pakistan safety officers mentioned the navy carried out air strikes on the Afghan capital Kabul, together with one on October 9 in an try to kill Pakistan Taliban chief Noor Wali Mehsud, although he later appeared in a video displaying he was alive.
“We have been being attacked. Our territory was being attacked. So we simply did tit for tat. We have been paying them in the identical coin,” Asif mentioned.
“They’re in Kabul. They’re in every single place. Wherever they’re, we’ll assault them. Kabul shouldn’t be, you understand, a no-go space.”
The subsequent spherical of talks is scheduled to be held in Istanbul on October 25 to evolve a mechanism on how one can implement the settlement, Asif mentioned.
