KEY POINTS
- Pakistan sees no difference between the TTP and Afghan Taliban
- Urges Afghan Taliban to act responsibly
- Trade cannot resume while cross-border attacks continue
- Pakistan says Kabul must halt support for terrorists groups
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military spokesperson, while emphasising Islamabad’s commitment to act with responsibility and restraint, said that the country’s actions are directed solely against terrorism and not the people of Afghanistan.
“We are a state, and we respond like a state. Our fight is not against the Afghan people; it is against terrorism,” Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said during a briefing to senior journalists on Tuesday.
He dismissed the allegations by the Afghan Taliban that Pakistan had conducted overnight strikes in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan Army has not attacked civilians inside Afghanistan, whenever Pakistan attacks someone, it announces it,” he said.
“In our view, there are no good and bad Taliban,” he said, adding that there was “no distinction” between terrorists.
Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif urged the Afghan Taliban government to make decisions like a responsible state rather than acting as a non-state entity.
“Ground realities show there is no distinction between Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan and the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan),” he added.
The DG ISPR stressed that security considerations must take precedence over commercial interests.
“Blood and business cannot run together. It is not possible that attacks continue while trade also carries on,” Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry remarked.
Reiterating Pakistan’s stance, the spokesperson said the country has no dispute with the Afghan people.
“Our fight is against terrorism, not the Afghan population,” the DG ISPR added.
He noted that non-custom paid vehicles have frequently been used in terrorist activities and stressed that immediate restrictions must be imposed on them.
Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan have grown increasingly strained in recent months, with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) emerging as the key source of friction. Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities to curb cross-border terrorism.
After border clashes in October, both sides entered a dialogue process aimed at developing mechanisms for lasting peace and stability. The second round of talks, held on October 25 in Istanbul, ended without progress.
Despite this setback, mediators Turkiye and Qatar helped revive the dialogue, issuing a joint statement on October 31 confirming that further implementation modalities would be discussed at a principal-level meeting in November.
However, following the third round of talks on November 7, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declared that negotiations on cross-border terrorism were “over” and had entered an “indefinite phase” due to major unresolved differences.
In the aftermath of the failed talks, the Afghan Taliban suspended trade ties with Pakistan, while Islamabad had already halted cross-border trade following the October clashes.
Turkiye later announced that senior officials would visit Pakistan to help defuse tensions, and Islamabad welcomed the mediation efforts of Ankara and Doha on November 14.
Most recently, Pakistan’s Foreign Office stated that the resumption of trade with Afghanistan depends on Kabul ending cross-border terrorism, further noting that the future of major regional energy projects is also tied to the Taliban regime halting its support for militant groups.
