Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has issued a stern warning to Afghanistan following recent airstrikes that killed at least eight people.
Speaking on Saturday, Dar alleged that hundreds of members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, have been integrated into Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government.
Thursday’s Pakistani strikes in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Khost drew strong condemnation from Kabul, which labeled them a “provocative act.” Afghan officials said the strikes hit civilian homes, killing eight people, including three children, in Khost’s Spera district.
On Friday, Kabul summoned Pakistan’s ambassador in protest. However, Dar, when questioned by reporters, demanded that the Afghan government either relocate TTP fighters away from the border—known as the Durand Line—or hand them over to Islamabad.
“Both Pakistan and China have security concerns. We have clearly told Afghanistan to either take decisive action against the Pakistani Taliban or hand them over to us. The Afghan government has integrated hundreds of TTP supporters into its government structure. However, so far, Kabul has neither rejected our request nor taken any action against this group,” Dar stated.
The Afghan government has repeatedly denied that TTP members operate from its territory. Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, in an interview with the BBC on Friday, accused Pakistan of using Afghanistan as a scapegoat for its own security failures.
The Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), have long claimed to be separate groups with distinct goals since the TTP’s formation in the mid-2000s.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have been strained since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, with tensions escalating in December following Pakistani airstrikes targeting alleged TTP training bases.
Earlier this year, Pakistan began mass deportations of Afghan refugees residing within its borders. In June, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi mediated a meeting between Dar and Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, temporarily easing tensions.