Pakistan on Saturday rejected the Afghan Taliban government's assertion that Afghanistan has neither the capacity nor the interest to destabilise Pakistan. In a statement, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting called Kabul's remarks "diversionary allegations" and said blaming Pakistan's security institutions would not absolve the Taliban of their duty to stop Afghan soil being used for terrorism against Pakistan.
"Pakistan's concerns are not based on conjecture," the ministry said, pointing to the 16th report of the UN Security Council's Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team and the US Lead Inspector General's report to Congress for January-March 2026. According to the ministry, the US report says the Taliban continue to allow the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan territory, and puts the group's strength at 4,000 to 6,000 fighters.
The ministry also cited repeated infiltration attempts across the border, the killing of Afghan nationals during counterterrorism operations, the recovery of foreign-made weapons and the alleged facilitation of militants by Taliban officials, including in Kandahar. "Such concerns cannot be dismissed through blanket denials; they require credible explanations and verifiable action," it said.
Islamabad urged the Taliban to end any support for the TTP, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and their affiliates. It stressed that its security measures target terrorism, not the Afghan people, and said it remains open to responsible engagement based on mutual respect and concrete action.
The statement comes amid a rise in cross-border attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan; September 2026 saw Pakistan's highest monthly number of militant attacks in 12 years. On the same day, the Foreign Office also rejected former US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad's claim about arming Afghans.