Pakistan urges Taliban to stop cross-border attacks

Pakistan on Monday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban government to prevent militants from using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan, warning again that the armed groups could eventually pose a threat to the Taliban’s own rule.

Tensions between the neighbouring countries have risen amid repeated border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, intensifying a longstanding dispute over militant activities.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in September that it had documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries resulting from cross-border violence in Afghanistan this year.

Speaking at a think tank event broadcast on Pakistani television, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said he had previously warned Afghan Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund about the threat during a visit to Kabul in July 2025.

“I politely reminded him that if the Afghan authorities failed to take appropriate action against terrorist groups operating from their territory, the day would come when these very groups would threaten his government as well,” Dar said.

He did not disclose how the Afghan authorities had responded. However, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Pakistan’s allegations in a post on X, accusing Pakistani officials of undermining negotiations and prioritising propaganda over solutions.

“Blaming Afghanistan for its own failures by Pakistani officials is no solution to any problem,” Mujahid wrote.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry rejected Mujahid’s remarks, saying on X that Islamabad remained committed to dialogue but that progress depended on Kabul fulfilling its counterterrorism commitments and taking verifiable action against militant sanctuaries and support networks.