Shafaqna Pakistan: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday reaffirmed that Pakistan remains determined to “eradicate the menace of terrorism,” as a temporary ceasefire with Afghanistan nears its end.
His remarks come amid reports that the Pakistan Army responded to alleged unprovoked attacks by the Afghan Taliban, resulting in the killing of more than 700 Taliban operatives and banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, along with the destruction of key infrastructure inside Afghanistan.
Last Wednesday, Pakistan had announced a temporary halt to Operation Ghazab lil-Haq in view of Eid ul Fitr.
However, in his Pakistan Day message, Dar made it clear that the country’s stance remains unchanged, stating that Pakistan is firmly committed to eliminating terrorism. He added that Pakistan’s actions within Afghanistan are aimed at achieving this objective.
Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said military action inside Afghanistan was “a symbol of our national resolve against terrorism”.
“We will not allow any harm to the peace and security of our country,” he added.
Pak-Afghan tensions
The recent escalation of tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan follows Pakistan’s retaliatory actions in response to suicide bombings in Islamabad, Bajaur, and Bannu, all of which were traced back to militants based in Afghanistan.
Islamabad, which has repeatedly urged Kabul to prevent its soil from being used by terrorist organisations to carry out attacks, conducted intelligence-based strikes targeting seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Fitna al Khawarij (FAK) — a term used for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — its affiliates and the Daesh-Khorasan, along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last week.
The recent border tensions reignited months after the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in October 2025 when the Afghan Taliban regime opened unprovoked gunfire at several border points.
The Afghan forces’ firing was aimed at helping Khawarij formations cross the border into Pakistan.
Islamabad, however, back then had agreed to an initial ceasefire at Kabul’s request. The countries then later reached a ceasefire deal in Qatar, which was mediated by Doha and Turkiye.
Under the agreement, terrorism from Afghanistan on Pakistani soil was to be stopped immediately.
The two sides then further held follow-up discussions in Turkiye which did not deliver the desired results due to stubbornness from the Afghan side, as Kabul used the Istanbul talks to malign Pakistan rather than address Islamabad’s core concern of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.
Source: The News
