Key points:
- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif vows decisive action against Afghan-based militants.
- Islamabad says patience has run out with the Taliban regime.
- Pakistan made repeated peace efforts, but Kabul showed no cooperation.
- 225 border flag meetings and 836 protest notes yielded no results.
- Islamabad to repatriate undocumented Afghan citizens back to Afghanistan.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021, as many as 3,844 Pakistani—including civilians, military personnel, and law enforcement officials—have been martyred, while 10,347 incidents of terrorism have taken place in Pakistan.
“Those who were once given refuge by Pakistan are now sitting in India’s lap and plotting against Pakistan,” he said and hastened to add that Pakistan can no longer afford to maintain relations with Kabul as in the past.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, the Defence Minister said that since the Kabul fall in August 2021, Pakistan has made every possible effort to maintain peace and stability in the region, but no positive response has come from the Afghan side.
طالبان کے 2021سے اقتدار میں آنے کےبعد سے لیکر پاکستان میں امن اور افغانستان سے دراندازی کے لئے ھماری حکومت کی کوششوں کا تفصیلی جائزہ۔۔۔
1-وزیر خاجہ کے کابل وزٹ 4
2-وزیردفاع اور ISI وزٹ2
3-نمائندہ خصوصی 5وزٹ
4-سیکرٹری 5وزٹ
5- نیشنل سیکورٹی ایڈوائزر 1وزٹ
6-جوائنٹ کوآرڈینیشن…— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) October 17, 2025
Pakistan’s peace efforts
Khawaja Asif stated that during the past five years, Pakistan has maintained consistent diplomatic, military, and security-level engagement with Afghanistan. According to him, the Pakistani Foreign Minister visited Kabul four times, the defence minister and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials twice, the special representative five times, secretaries five times, and the national security adviser once.
He added that during this period, both countries held eight Joint Coordination Committee meetings, 225 border flag meetings, exchanged 836 protest notes, and issued 13 demarches.
An intransigent Kabul
The defence minister said Pakistan sacrificed immensely for peace—with 3,844 people martyred and 10,347 incidents of terrorism recorded. Despite these sacrifices and efforts, he said, there was no positive response from Kabul
“Instead, Afghanistan now appears to be involved in conspiracies against Pakistan as a proxy of India. This war of terrorism has been imposed on Pakistan jointly by India, Afghanistan, and the TTP [Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan],” he said.
He made it clear that all Afghan citizens currently residing in Pakistan will now have to return to their homeland because they have their own government in Kabul. “Pakistan’s land and resources belong to its 250 million citizens, and the time has come to end five decades of forced hospitality,” he said.
“The self-respecting nations do not survive on others’ resources. There will be no more protest notes—now there will be practical steps. Any source of terrorism in Pakistan will not be tolerated, and anyone conspiring against the country will have to pay a heavy price,” the minister warned.
Pakistan draws the line
In recent days, Pakistan and Afghanistan have witnessed deadly cross-border clashes and reports of strikes and counter-strikes along the frontier. Several key border crossings have been closed, disrupting trade and movement.
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban regime in Kabul to rein in Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists who are based in Afghanistan and continue to launch attacks inside Pakistan, undermining its hard-won stability. Pakistani officials say these groups are using Afghan soil to orchestrate terrorism, despite multiple assurances from Kabul.
Here’s a more Pakistan-favouring version of that passage, keeping it factual yet firmly reflective of Islamabad’s stance:
The intransigent and uncooperative behaviour of the Taliban regime has compelled Islamabad to take decisive policy measures—including enhanced border security, the repatriation of undocumented Afghan nationals, and a thorough review of bilateral ties. Pakistani officials maintain that these steps are essential for safeguarding national security, as the country can no longer tolerate cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghan soil despite years of restraint and repeated appeals for cooperation.
