KABUL: Former Afghan Taliban minister Mawlawi Abdul Kabir has said that jihad against Pakistan was justified even if it took place inside a mosque, a statement that justifies the kind of terrorism witnessed in the recent Kohat mosque attack and exposes the Taliban regime’s ideology.
According to a statement by the Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front (NRF), former Taliban minister Mawlawi Abdul Kabir has justified terrorism, terming it as ‘jihad’, against Pakistan, including inside mosques.
“The Jihad against Pakistan is justified even if it’s inside mosques” says Taliban regime Minister. pic.twitter.com/diCdjJh3hh
— National Resistance Front (NRF) 🇦🇫 (@NRFMediaCell) September 19, 2026
In a post on X on September 19, the NRF’s media cell stated that a Taliban regime minister had said: “The jihad against Pakistan is justified even if it’s inside mosques.”
The remarks come amid continuing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with terrorism-related and security issues remaining major points of contention between the two countries.
The NRF is an Afghan opposition group that has positioned itself against Taliban rule, which it describes as illegitimate. The Taliban authorities have not yet commented on their former minister’s statement.
The reference to mosques in the statement is significant because, it indicates that terrorism against Pakistan could be considered justified even in places of worship.
“Jihad” is a sacred Islamic term whose meaning encompasses striving or exerting oneself in the cause of God, including moral and spiritual struggle. Islamic scholarship has understood the concept in broader contexts than armed conflict.
Terrorist/Militant groups, including the Taliban and other extremist organisations, have nevertheless invoked the term to frame and justify acts of armed violence, giving it a terrorist/militant and political connotation in such contexts that Muslim scholars and institutions reject as a distortion or misuse of the concept.
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Mawlawi Abdul Kabir’s statement assumes particular significance following the recent terrorist attack on a mosque in Kohat, where worshippers were targeted. The timing and content of the remarks will draw serious concern in Pakistan and the Muslim world, as they appear to provide a troubling justification for armed violence and extreme terrorism in the name of jihad, including in places of worship.
The statement is a further evidence of the ideological outlook underpinning the Taliban regime’s approach to armed jihad (terrorism) and its position towards Pakistan.
Pakistan has repeatedly conveyed to the Taliban regime that Afghan territory is being used by terrorist groups to plan, facilitate and carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
Islamabad has called on Kabul to take concrete and verifiable action against these groups and provide assurances that Afghan soil will not be used for terrorism against Pakistan. Pakistan’s Foreign Office has reiterated that preventing the use of Afghan territory for terrorist attacks remains its central security concern in relations with Kabul.
