Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday renewed its warning to Afghanistan’s Taliban government to prevent militants from using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan, saying the armed groups could eventually threaten the Taliban’s own rule. Kabul rejected the accusations, accusing Pakistani officials of spreading propaganda and undermining efforts to negotiate a solution.
Tensions between the neighbours have escalated amid repeated border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, deepening a longstanding dispute over militant activity. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in September that it had documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries from cross-border violence in Afghanistan this year.
Speaking at a think tank event broadcast on Pakistani television, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said he had delivered a similar warning to Afghan Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund during a visit to Kabul in July 2025.
“I politely reminded him that if the Afghan authorities failed to take appropriate action against terrorist groups operating from their territory, the day would come when these very groups would threaten his government as well,” Dar said.
Dar said Pakistan’s diplomatic and economic efforts to improve relations with Kabul had yielded little progress on its central security demand: action against militants operating from Afghan soil.
Pakistan sought to expand trade, upgrade diplomatic representation to the ambassadorial level, and pursue a railway linking the country to Central Asia through Afghanistan, Dar said. He added that he had visited Kabul three times in 2025.
“Good neighbourly relations are a two-way responsibility,” Dar said. “They cannot mean silently absorbing one attack after another.”
He accused militants of planning and launching attacks inside Pakistan from across the border, saying they infiltrated through mountainous terrain, targeted soldiers and civilians, and retreated to sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Pakistan frequently accuses Kabul of sheltering the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as well as the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent. The TTP is separate from, but closely allied with, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban. Afghanistan’s Taliban government has repeatedly denied providing a haven to militants targeting Pakistan.
Dar described the TTP as one of Pakistan’s gravest security threats, citing attacks on schools, mosques, markets and security installations. He also accused the separatist BLA of targeting civilians, security personnel and economic infrastructure.
Pakistan says more than 2,800 militant attacks since January have killed or wounded about 3,000 people. Dar added that the military had completed nearly 95% of a fence along the more than 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) border with Afghanistan. Construction began in 2017 following cross-border attacks on Pakistani army posts.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, speaking at the same event, also blamed Afghanistan-based militants for the surge in violence. Citing United Nations and independent assessments, he said Afghanistan hosted more than 6,000 TTP fighters and more than 20,000 militants overall. He accused the TTP of using Afghan territory to recruit, train and plan attacks since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Pakistan’s allegations, accusing Islamabad of undermining negotiations and prioritising propaganda over solutions to its domestic challenges.
“Blaming Afghanistan for its own failures by Pakistani officials is no solution to any problem,” Mujahid said in a post on X.
He said Pakistan’s political, security, social and economic challenges were a matter of concern for the wider region, and accused Pakistani officials of making baseless allegations and attempting to sabotage negotiations rather than pursuing constructive solutions.
Mujahid also urged Pakistan to address its domestic problems and respect the views and rights of its politicians and people.
Afghanistan’s Deputy Government Spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat similarly criticised Islamabad’s approach, saying accusations against Kabul and an emphasis on propaganda would not resolve Pakistan’s internal challenges.
Pakistan’s Information Ministry said Islamabad remained committed to dialogue but insisted that progress depended on Kabul meeting its counterterrorism commitments and taking verifiable action against militant sanctuaries and support networks.
Dar said Pakistan wanted Afghanistan to be stable and prosperous but could no longer ignore what he described as a continuing militant threat across the border.