ISLAMABAD: A Taliban cleric in Afghanistan has publicly called for “jihad” against the Muslim majority neighbouring Pakistan, terming the country’s government “infidel” and urging followers to fight under the Taliban leadership.
Analysts said the remarks reflect how extremist clerics are weaponising religion to incite extremist sentiment against Pakistan from Afghan territory amid growing international alarm over terrorism from Afghanistan threatening regional peace.
Abdul Basir, a cleric from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, made the remarks in a speech circulated on social media, urging followers to fight under the leadership of the Taliban’s supreme leader, known as the Amir-ul-Momineen.
In the video shared by Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews on the social media platform X, Basir branded Pakistan’s government as “infidel” and called on his followers to wage jihad against the neighbouring Muslim majority country.
ویدیو: عبدالبصیر، از عالمان بدخشان، میگوید که حکومت پاکستان «یک نظام کفری است» و جهاد در برابر آن فرض است.
پیش از این طاهر اشرفی، رییس شورای علمای پاکستان حملههای پاکستان بر افغانستان را جهاد خوانده بود.#طلوعنیوز pic.twitter.com/4axfino25v
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) March 11, 2026
The comments have surfaced at a time when the United Nations Security Council on Monday discussed rising security concerns linked to Afghanistan, including the continued presence of terrorist groups and the risk of regional instability.
Extremist rhetoric from Afghan soil
In his speech, cleric Abdul Basir acknowledged his own lack of religious scholarship but nevertheless issued a call for terrorist mobilisation against Pakistan.
Abdul Basir’s rant exposes intellectual bankruptcy within Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, analysts said. A cleric openly admits “even if I am ignorant or unlearned” while issuing a fatwa of jihad.
“This is not scholarship; this is reckless incitement dressed as religion,” an analyst said.
He urged supporters to fight in loyalty to the Taliban leadership and criticised Pakistan’s legal system, describing it as based on “infidel law”.
Analysts say such rhetoric reflects the use of religion by extremist actors to mobilise extremists and justify terrorist violence.
Branding Pakistan’s government “infidel” while urging followers to “kill for Amir-ul-Momineen” shows how Taliban-aligned clerics weaponise religion for terrorist mobilisation and political loyalty, analysts said.
The remarks also raise questions about Taliban assurances that Afghan territory is not being used to threaten neighbouring countries.
Taliban regime claims Afghan territory is not used against neighbours, yet clerics under its protection openly call for jihad against Pakistan from Afghan soil, analysts said, adding that reality contradicts every Taliban denial.
Pakistan has repeatedly warned that terrorist groups operate from Afghan soil and carry out terrorist attacks across the border.
Violent fatwas without accountability
Cleric Basir’s speech reflects a deeper problem inside the Taliban system where unqualified clerics issue violent fatwas without accountability, turning religion into a tool for mobilising fighters, analysts said.
Analysts maintained that terming Pakistan’s legal system as “infidel law” while promoting suicide violence reveals a distorted and selective interpretation of Islam used to justify cross-border terrorism.
Taliban authorities allow such rhetoric because it feeds the ideological machinery behind terrorist recruitment networks operating inside Afghanistan, analysts said.
Analysts said that the Taliban uses a perverted interpretation of religious cover to justify their wrongdoings.
Separating “people of Pakistan” from its government while calling for jihad is a classic extremist propaganda tactic designed to legitimise violence while pretending moral restraint, analysts maintained.
Afghanistan under Taliban rule increasingly resembles a hub of radical fatwas where clerics incite war, label governments infidel and encourage militancy rather than peace.
Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada uses religious indoctrination to concentrate power, according to analysts. Akhundzada also aims to export extremist agendas worldwide, analysts revealed.
Abdul Basir’s outburst ultimately exposes the Taliban regime’s permissive environment for extremist preaching, where ignorance is celebrated, and violence is sanctified in the name of religion.
UN Security Council raises alarm
The issue of terrorism in Afghanistan was also discussed at a United Nations Security Council session on Monday, where representatives from several countries expressed concern over the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
Representatives from the United States, China, Russia, France, Pakistan and other countries warned that Taliban policies and the continued activity of terrorist organisations risk turning Afghanistan into a source of regional instability.
The council members highlighted the ongoing presence of terrorist groups such as ISIS-Khorasan, Al-Qaeda and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
China’s representative to the UN, Fu Cong, said these terrorist organisations continue to operate on Afghan soil and pose a serious threat to regional and global security.
Pakistan’s representative to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the council that Afghanistan has become a sanctuary for terrorist groups.
He said the presence of terrorists, including the TTP, ISIS-Khorasan and Al-Qaeda, posed “a grave threat not only to neighbouring countries but also to the region and global peace”.
According to Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, terrorist attacks originating from Afghanistan have surged in recent months.
Calls for action against terrorists
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar said terrorist groups use Afghan territory as a base to plan and launch terrorist attacks against Pakistan and other countries.
He also revealed that terrorists are gaining access to advanced weapons and coordinating operations from within Afghanistan under the Taliban regime.
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Washington has serious doubts about the Taliban’s willingness to change or honour international commitments.
