Kabul | Pakistan

Seven dead as blast hits Kabul restaurant

• Report claims Hibatullah Akhundzada ‘spooked’ by possibility of schism between his hardline base in the south, more pragmatic ministers in the capital • Zabihullah Mujahid ‘confirms’ existence of audio recording, but terms BBC claim ‘unfounded’ A STARK message from the Taliban supreme leader, warning of internal threats to the Islamic Emirate, has seemingly laid bare the long-speculated divide bet­ween Kandahar and Kabul, BBC News reported. An audio recording of a speech — delivered by Hibat­ullah Akhundzada at a seminary in Kandahar aro­und a year ago — contains what some are interpreting as confirmation of differences among top Taliban leaders. In the leaked clip, obtained by the BBC, Akhundzada can be heard saying that internal disagreements could eventually bring them all down. According to the investigation by BBC Afghan, two distinct groups have eme­rged within the Afghan Tali­ban, each presenting competing visions for how Afgh­anistan should be governed. One is entirely loyal to the Akhundzada-led Ka...

The government on Monday took strong exception to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi saying the state should provide evidence of Kabul’s soil being used against Pakistan. In a media interaction at the home of PTI leader Alamgir Khan on Sunday night, Afridi said that the state should give evidence for the claim that Afghanistan’s soil was being used for terrorism in Pakistan. He said that other countries also shared a border with Afghanistan but they did not have the same complaints. The clip was also shared by state broadcaster PTV on the social media platform X. In a post on X, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that Afridi was speaking as Afghanistan’s “spokesperson“ which was highly “condemnable and shameful”. “The whole world has seen evidence of the Afghan Taliban regime’s support for terrorists, and there is also irrefutable evidence that Afghanistan’s soil is being used for terrorist activities,” Tarar said. “Sohail Afridi has reached the peak of lies and hypocrisy. The Pakistani na...

No hostility with Kabul, terror sole concern: FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday that Islamabad had no “bilateral dispute” with Kabul other than terrorism emanating from Afghan soil. “We do not have any bilateral dispute with Afghanistan except for this one issue. Terrorism emanating from Afghanistan is a major issue. So we need verifiable assurances, commitments that these acts will be stopped,” said FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi during the weekly briefing in Islamabad. The FO spokesperson also reiterated Pakistan’s longstanding demand for Kabul to take concrete and verifiable actions against those involved in terrorism against Pakistan from the Afghan territory. During the briefing, the spokesperson clarified that Islamabad “does not wish to be hostile to Afghanistan” and Pakistan’s demand to Afghanistan “is very simple”. The spokesperson reiterated Pakistan’s demand for written assurances from the Afghan Taliban that the neighbouring country’s soil would not be used by Fitna-al-Khawarij — the term the state has designated for the bann...

KARACHI: A day after the military’s chief spokesperson assailed the Afghan Taliban for not honouring their pledges in the Doha Agreement, one of the architects of that accord suggested that Pakistan should consider entering into a similar deal with Kabul. Zalmay Khalilzad, who served as special representative to Afghanistan during the first Trump administration, tweeted on Wednesday that it was “a misunderstanding… to think that the agreement covered Afghanistan-Pakistan issues”. In a post on his X account, he also attached the text of the agreement, which — among other things — contained a commitment to prevent the soil of Afghanistan being used by any group or individual against the security of the United States and its allies. However, he posited that “a similar agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan… would serve the interests of both countries”. Expanding on the idea, Mr Khalilzad said that the accord should be one “in which both countries commit to not allow any individual or group including ISIS and...

KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Saturday they were working with neighbouring Tajikistan to investigate a border clash earlier this week that killed five people, including two Tajik guards. Tajikistan announced on Thursday that three members of a “terrorist” group had crossed into the Central Asian country “illegally” at Khatlon province, which borders Afghanistan. Tajik security forces killed the trio, but two border guards also died in the clash, the Tajik national security committee said. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Saturday that “we have started serious investigations into” the recent “incidents” on Tajik soil. “I spoke to the foreign minister of Tajikistan and we are working together to prevent such incidents,” he told an event in Kabul. “We are worried that some malicious circles want to destroy the relations between two neighbouring countries,” the minister added, without elaborating. Tajikistan shares a mountainous border of about 1,350 kilometres with Afghanistan...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on the international community on Friday to urge Afghanistan to fulfil its international “obligations” and rein in terrorist outfits operating from its territory. The premier made these remarks while addressing an international forum in Turkmenistan, where he also held bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. During those meetings, he stressed the need for the rulers in Kabul to take “meaningful action” and “fully address” Pakistan’s security concerns. Pakistan, which has been grappling with the problem of terrorism for long, has been demanding that the rulers in Kabul take action to stop cross-border terrorism. But, the Afghan Taliban deny Islamabad’s allegation of terrorists being allowed to use Afghan soil to carry out attacks in Pakistan. The two sides also engaged in border skirmishes in recent months, following which a ceasefire was reached. Pakistan and Afghanistan have also held talks with the mediation...

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday that the current ceasefire with Afghanistan was not a “traditional” one but contingent on whether any terrorist activity took place against Pakistan from the neighbouring country’s soil. Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban are at their lowest point in the four years since the group came to power. Border crossings bet­ween the two countries have remained closed since October 11 and trade has been at a standstill following ground fighting and Pakistani airstrikes across their 2,600-kilometre frontier that killed dozens on both sides in the worst fighting since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of Kabul. Following those clashes, Turkiye and Qatar stepped in to mediate. The first round in Doha produced a fragile ceasefire, while the second, also in Doha, ended with only a general agreement to develop a mechanism for verifying compliance and a decision to continue talks. The third round concluded without any concrete agreement. The situation deteriorated again followi...

• FO says Islamabad understands ‘economic pain’ caused by closures but security threat ‘existential’ • Can’t let ‘our people be killed indiscriminately’ • Scheduling of planned Turkish delegation’s visit in connection with Pak-Afghan conflict still awaited ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday said that the resumption of trade with Afghanistan depended on the Taliban regime ending cross-border terrorism, and also linked the fate of key regional energy projects to Kabul halting its support for terrorist groups. “The onus of delay in the reopening of the border crossings rests with the Afghan Taliban regime,” Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said at a weekly media briefing. Pakistan and Afghanistan’s bilateral trade, estimated at $1.6 billion to $1.8bn in 2023-24, with key border gateways like Torkham and Chaman handling most of the traffic, has been suspended since mid-October, following deadly clashes between Pakistani forces and Taliban fighters. This suspension is estimated to b...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said Pakistan was in a “state of war” after at least 12 people were killed and 36 were injured on Tuesday in a suicide blast in the federal capital, adding that it was futile to hope for any positive outcome of talks with Kabul after the incident. The incident occurred as international events were being hosted in the capital, including the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference and the 6th Margalla Dialogue, while a cricket match between the Greenshirts and Sri Lanka was also being held in Pindi. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif blamed the incident on terrorists “active with Indian support”. The incident comes following a breakdown in negotiations with the Afghan Taliban government. “We are in a state of war. Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan Army is fighting this war in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and the remote areas of Balochistan should take today’s suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts as a wake-up call: this is a war for all of Pakistan, in which...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that Kabul must understand that lasting peace could only be achieved by reining in terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil. “Afghanistan must understand that lasting peace can only be realised by reining in Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory,” Shehbaz said while addressing the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference in Islamabad. In his remarks, the premier said that the theme of the conference, “Peace, Security and Development”, could not be more timely and relevant. He added that the theme was particularly resonant for Pakistan, saying that the country had always advocated for peace through dialogue and diplomacy. “We firmly believe that peace and security form the foundation of sustainable national and regional development,” he said. “The true value of peace is most profoundly understood when we are confronted with the conflicts that continue to plague our world,” he said. The premier especially called att...

Pakistan’s security is solely the responsibility of its armed forces and no such guarantee will be extended to Kabul, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said while briefing senior journalists.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said that with the establishment of a joint monitoring and verification mechanism, the onus would be on Kabul to take action against terrorists using Afghan soil. A second round of discussions between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban delegations had began 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 when the “p...

• Islamabad says ceasefire with western neighbour not ‘open-ended’; any breach will trigger ‘all options’ • Foreign Office insists Istanbul statement a ‘preface’, not full text of accord • Says Taliban privately acknowledge TTP, BLA presence in Afghanistan • Khawaja Asif hints at multi-nation monitors, says ‘terrorism must stop’ ISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Friday viewed the Istanbul agreement with Kabul as a conditional truce and a step forward, but not an end-state as it awaited the next high-level engagement with the Afghan Taliban regime scheduled for Nov 6 in Turkiye. “Afghanistan should understand that this arrangement is a conditional truce, one which hinges on demonstrable responsibility by the Afghan side,” a senior security source said on condition of anonymity, underscoring Pakistan’s cautious optimism after five days of intense talks in Istanbul mediated by Turkiye and Qatar. The round of negotiations, which concluded earlier this week, produced a three-point understanding — the continuation of the cea...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday said talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan on cross-border terrorism could resume if Kabul signalled a shift in its attitude. Discussions between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban delegations had begun in Istanbul on Saturday, but Islamabad’s long-standing concern of terror attacks emanating from Afghanistan had been a bone of contention, resulting in a stalemate. “While the talks have not begun [again], our delegation is still in Istanbul,” Asif said in an exclusive interview with Geo News. He added that “discussions could still restart” if there was “some development that indicates a material change in Kabul’s attitude on the insistence of these two friendly countries (Turkiye and Qatar)”. “Our stance, that there will not be any attacks on us (Pakistan) from their land and they will not back such attacks, is a sticking point. If an understanding can be reached on that, [well and good], it will be a good thing,” Asif said. The minister noted, “There has been no breakthro...

Minister brands Kabul regime a proxy of India; Questions legitimacy of Taliban government

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said that an agreement was about to be reached with Afghanistan, but Afghan negotiators backpedaled after contacting Kabul during the negotiations. A second round of talks between the two sides had begun on Saturday in Istanbul. The Qatar talks had come after days of fighting along the Pak-Afghan border and strikes by Islamabad on Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan. The agreement reached in Doha extended an initial 48-hour truce and resulted in a temporary ceasefire, as well as a commitment to reconvene in Istanbul to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability between the two countries. Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada ke Saath’, the defence minister stated that negotiators had backpedaled on an agreement “four or five times” after receiving instructions from Kabul. “Whenever we got close to an agreement — either in the last four days or last week — when negotiators reported to Kabul, then there was intervention and the agreement was wit...

Islamabad, Kabul seek to firm up truce Istanbul negotiations to continue today

• Hafiz Gul Bahadur group’s positions in the crosshairs hours after audacious gun-and-bomb attack in North Waziristan • Strikes come despite extension of ceasefire; security officials say ‘truce with Afghan govt, not terror outfits’ • Khawaja Asif accuses Afghan Taliban of ‘sitting in India’s lap’; says terrorists will be made to pay heavy price, wherever they are • Questions remain over Qatar-mediated talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in absence of clarity over who will attend ISLAMABAD: With representatives from both sides expected to meet in Doha soon for talks mediated by the Qatari government, a telling statement from the country’s defence minister indicated that the gloves were off, as Pakistan again targeted terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan on Friday. The attacks came on the heels of an audacious gun-and-bomb attack, targeting a military installation in North Waziristan, and just hours after Islamabad and Kabul extended their two-day ceasefire. Incidents were reported from the Angoor Adda region ...