Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi has said that any shelter or support extended by the Taliban regime to terrorist elements will not be unacceptable to Pakistan. In an official statement, Andrabi said that the Fitna al-Hindustan (BLA) and Fitna al-Khawarij (TTP) are enemies of the state and people of Pakistan. He added that any party providing them refuge, assistance or financial aid would not be regarded as an ally of Pakistan. Andrabi said that the third round of talks, mediated by Turkey and Qatar, concluded in Istanbul on November 7. He expressed appreciation for the mediation efforts aimed at preventing cross-border attacks from Afghanistan. According to the statement, there has been a marked increase in terrorist incidents in Pakistan originating from Afghan soil since August 2021. Pakistan, it said, endured four years of grave human and financial losses with restraint. The government had hoped that the Taliban administration would gradually establish control and take decisive action against the TTP and BLA operating across the border. However, there has been little evidence of practical measures from the Afghan side. FO spokesperson said that Pakistan had extended several facilities to the Afghan Taliban, including trade, humanitarian aid, and educational and medical visas. Islamabad also maintained a positive approach towards engagement on international platforms. Despite this, most of the Taliban’s commitments, he said, remained superficial and ineffective. Andrabi said during the first round of talks in Doha, both sides agreed upon basic principles and a temporary ceasefire. The second round was intended to establish a framework for the implementation of those principles, yet the Taliban delegation attempted to withdraw from prior commitments and disrupted the atmosphere through accusations and provocative statements. During the third round, Pakistan again emphasised the need for an effective monitoring mechanism. The Afghan side, however, sought to broaden the agenda instead of focusing on core issues, and introduced irrelevant claims to prolong discussions. Due to this approach, no meaningful agreement could be reached. The Foreign Office said that while some elements within the Afghan Taliban do not favour confrontation with Pakistan, a strong lobby—supported by external financial backers—is working to inflame tensions. The use of Afghan territory for issuing edicts and conducting terrorist activities against Pakistan remains a serious security concern. The statement said that Pakistan remains committed to dialogue and peace but insisted that the root cause—the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil—must first be eliminated. Until that danger persists, Pakistan will continue to take all necessary measures to safeguard its borders and people. The statement added that the Afghan Taliban try to spread narratives about disagreements within Islamabad over Afghan policy. “Irrespective of this misleading propaganda, there is absolute clarity among the people of Pakistan that the ordinary people of Pakistan are the biggest victims of the terrorist activities by elements hiding in Afghanistan and their abettors,” the FO clarified, maintaining that Pakistan’s armed forces are fully capable of safeguarding the population against any acts of aggression. Moreover, the FO noted in its statement an attempt by elements in the Afghan Taliban to “instigate Pashtoon (Pakhtun) nationalism” in Pakistan. “It is a historical fact that Pashtoons in Pakistan are a vibrant part of the society and the state, holding leadership positions across the spectrum of polity and bureaucracy,” the statement read. “More … Pashtoons live in Pakistan than in Afghanistan … therefore, instead of instigating pashtoonism in Pakistan, it would be wise for [the] Taliban regime to look into its own credentials of inclusivity of all segments of its population in its governance structures.” ‘Strong lobby’The FO added that there are people within the Afghan Taliban who do not want war with Pakistan, but noted the presence of a “strong lobby, with monetary support from foreign actors that has been tasked to stoke tensions”. “In search for legitimacy and to unite their fractious government, certain elements in [the] Taliban regime, anti-Pakistan terrorist elements and their abettors have found raising the bogey of Pakistan quite useful,” the statement read. “These elements have engaged in abuses and outrageous allegations against Pakistan. By doing so, they are fast eroding whatever goodwill they had within Pakistan.” The hostilities began when an attack was launched on Pakistan from Afghanistan on the night of October 11. The attack had followed an allegation from the Taliban of airstrikes by Pakistan into Afghanistan — an accusation which Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied. For its part, Islamabad has long demanded that the Taliban stop terror groups from using its soil against Pakistan. Taliban, however, deny the allegation of allowing terrorists to operate from Afghan soil. Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to grapple with the issue of terrorism and has suffered multiple casualties among security forces in intelligence-based operations. After the initial skirmish on October 11, multiple others took place along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Meanwhile, strikes by Islamabad also targeted Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan. A ceasefire was then agreed upon on October 15 in the evening, and eventually, the two sides came together for dialogue in Doha. Since the skirmishes between October 11 and 15, Pakistan and Afghan Taliban representatives have held several rounds of talks — first in Doha and then in Istanbul — but a final agreement was not achieved. After the Doha talks, a temporary ceasefire continued to prevent border hostilities while the two sides committed to reconvene in Istanbul to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability between the two countries. On October 25, the second round of talks between the two sides began in the Turkish capital. But, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced in a post on X on October 29 that the talks “failed to bring about any workable solution”. He also asserted that Pakistan would continue to take all possible measures to protect its citizens from terrorism. However, mediators Turkiye and Qatar intervened and managed to salvage the dialogue process, with an October 31 joint statement released by Turkiye stating that “further modalities of the implementation will be discussed and decided” during a principal-level meeting in Istanbul on November 6. For the third round, under the joint mediation of Turkiye and Qatar, delegations from both sides arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday. The talks began on Friday, surviving a brief exchange of fire along the border that tested the shaky ceasefire. Two people, including a woman, were killed on the Pakistani side in a cross-border exchange of fire at the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing. However, the talks failed as negotiators could not bridge deep differences between the two sides.
Afghan Taliban’s Backing of Terrorists Deemed Unacceptable: Foreign Office
