Islamabad
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has issued a sharp warning to the Afghan Taliban, saying they would face “peril and doom” if they tested Islamabad’s strength. His statement, shared on social media, came amid rising tensions between the two neighbours after failed peace talks and recent cross-border operations.
Asif warned that Pakistan would not tolerate further attacks or suicide bombings within its borders. “We have borne your mockery for too long, but no more,” he said, adding that Pakistan would not need to use “even a fraction” of its full arsenal to destroy the Taliban. He compared potential retaliation to the Taliban’s defeat at Tora Bora, where they once fled “with their tails between their legs.”
The comments followed the collapse of three-day talks in Turkey between Afghan and Pakistani delegations. Reports said Pakistan withdrew after Kabul rejected its demand to control armed groups allegedly attacking Pakistan. In response, Afghan officials warned they would retaliate strongly against any Pakistani airstrikes.
Tensions deepened after Pakistan admitted it has an agreement allowing US drone operations from its territory — a revelation that angered Afghanistan. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said any future attack would bring a “decisive response,” declaring that Afghanistan, though without nuclear weapons, had resisted NATO and the US for 20 years.
Observers fear the failed negotiations could worsen mistrust and spark new border clashes, threatening fragile regional stability already strained by past conflicts and mutual accusations.
