ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has ruled out restarting talks with the Afghan Taliban, saying dialogue is impossible while militants crossing from Afghanistan continue to carry out deadly suicide attacks.
“It is not possible that they are bombing us and we go and tell them to negotiate,” Naqvi told reporters in the capital, Islamabad.
The announcement came days after a suicide bombing in Islamabad killed 12 people and wounded more than two dozen others. Earlier, in a separate incident in Wana, South Waziristan, attackers targeted a cadet college; all students and staff remained unharmed as Pakistani forces killed the assailants.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have held several mediation rounds in Türkiye and Qatar, but discussions collapsed as Islamabad demanded action against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sanctuaries on Afghan soil.
Naqvi confirmed that the attackers involved in the Islamabad Judicial Complex blast and the bombing at Cadet College Wana were both Afghan nationals.
“Afghan citizens carried out both the bomb blasts and suicide attacks. Both cases have been confirmed,” he said. “They came from Afghanistan and carried out the attacks. We will take up these cases accordingly.”
Sri Lanka Agrees to Continue Cricket Tour
Naqvi said the Sri Lankan cricket team decided to continue its Pakistan tour after receiving a detailed late-night security briefing from top officials.
“Their government, their board, and especially their players took this decision themselves,” Naqvi said. “We addressed all their concerns. I thank the players for this brave decision.”
He added that although security arrangements were already strong, authorities would “leave nothing to chance.”
Peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan — mediated by Türkiye and Qatar in Istanbul — collapsed after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, Pakistan has faced a sharp rise in militant attacks launched from Afghan territory. Analysts say the TTP has rebuilt and expanded its operational infrastructure under Taliban protection, directing attacks against civilians, security forces, and border posts across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Security experts warn that the Taliban’s continued sheltering of TTP and other anti-Pakistan militants risks plunging the region into a new cycle of instability. Islamabad, they add, is running out of patience after repeated diplomatic efforts failed to persuade Kabul to curb cross-border terrorism.
