Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has sharply intensified tensions by linking India to Pakistan’s ongoing conflict with Afghanistan. He also announced a break in Islamabad’s ties with Kabul and urged all Afghans living in Pakistan to return to their homeland.
His statement came as a 48-hour ceasefire expired at 6 pm local time. Media reports, however, indicated that the truce was extended, with representatives from both sides set to meet in Doha, Qatar, to negotiate a resolution.
“There will be no more protest notes or appeals for peace; no delegations will visit Kabul. Wherever terrorism originates, it will face severe consequences,” Asif wrote on X.
He accused Kabul of being a “proxy of India” and conspiring against Pakistan alongside New Delhi and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“The leaders in Kabul, now under India’s influence and plotting against Pakistan, were once sheltered on our land,” he said, declaring that Islamabad “can no longer maintain relations with Kabul as before.”
The comments came after Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s six-day visit to India, officially focused on trade and bilateral relations.
“All Afghans residing in Pakistan must return home; they now have their own government in Kabul. Pakistan’s land and resources belong to 250 million citizens… Self-respecting nations cannot thrive on foreign territory,” Asif added.
He stressed that Pakistan is prepared to defend itself against any further aggression, noting that despite Islamabad’s “efforts and sacrifices over five years,” Kabul has offered no positive response. “Pakistan issued 836 protest notes and 13 demarches,” he said.
Afghanistan-Pakistan Conflict
Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes on its soil late Friday, killing at least eight people and ending the brief ceasefire. The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed that three players in the area for a tournament were among the casualties and announced it would withdraw from the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series with Pakistan.
The 48-hour truce had temporarily halted nearly a week of violent border clashes, which left dozens of troops and civilians dead on both sides.
In Pakistan, a senior security official told AFP that forces carried out “precision aerial strikes” targeting the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, a faction linked to the TTP, in Afghan border areas. Islamabad claimed this group was responsible for a suicide bombing and attack on a military camp in North Waziristan, killing seven paramilitary troops.
