Pakistan will not tolerate attacks from Afghan soil, army chief assures tribal elders

Pakistan’s army chief said Thursday the country seeks peaceful relations with Afghanistan but “will not allow cross-border terrorism to be perpetrated from Afghan soil against Pakistan,” as officials in Islamabad and Kabul resumed high-stakes talks aimed at easing border tensions.

Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff, visited Peshawar, where he addressed a jirga of tribal elders and received a briefing at Headquarters 11 Corps on the security situation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier.

The Inter-Services Public Relations said the briefing focused on operational preparedness and ongoing counterterrorism efforts “to maintain peace and stability” along the border.

Munir praised tribal communities for supporting security forces during the recent standoff with Afghanistan’s Taliban government. He paid tribute to what he called the resilience and sacrifices of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the fight against terrorism.

Tribal elders, according to the military, reiterated their “full support to the Armed Forces against terrorism and also against Afghan Taliban.”

Munir said Pakistan has made repeated diplomatic and economic efforts to improve bilateral ties “despite continuation of cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan.” He accused the Taliban administration in Kabul of enabling groups he described as “Indian-sponsored terror proxies” — Fitna Al Khwarij (TTP) and Fitna Al Hindustan (BLA) — instead of acting against them.

He assured the gathering that Pakistan — particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — would be “cleansed of the terrorists and their abettors.”

Tribal elders welcomed what they called the army chief’s candid remarks and stressed that the ideology of FAK — a term Pakistan’s military uses for militant factions — “had no acceptance among the tribes of KPK,” ISPR said.

Munir was received in Peshawar by the commander of the XI Corps.

The visit comes as Pakistan and Afghanistan resumed talks in Istanbul, a day after Islamabad announced the process had stalled. Four sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters the talks are back on at the request of mediators Turkey and Qatar.

The development has raised hopes of preventing a repeat of the deadly clashes earlier this month along the 2,600-km (1,600-mile) border — the worst since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

Dozens were killed on both sides after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad said was the head of the Pakistani Taliban — known as TTP — in Kabul and other locations. The Taliban administration responded with attacks on Pakistani military posts along the border.

A temporary ceasefire was brokered in Doha on Oct. 19. But a second round of talks in Istanbul failed to yield agreement until negotiations were revived Thursday.

“Most of the issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been resolved successfully and peacefully,” a source close to the Taliban delegation told Reuters. The source said a few Pakistani demands require “extra time” because “they are difficult to be agreed upon.”

Pakistan’s main demand, according to a security official cited by Reuters, is that Afghanistan take action against militants who use its territory as a safe haven and launch attacks inside Pakistan.

Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary to the Pakistani Taliban — a separate group — and enabling cross-border operations. Kabul denies the charge, saying it does not control the group.

Clashes between Pakistani forces and TTP have continued even during the Doha-brokered ceasefire. Pakistani officials said Thursday that security forces killed Qari Amjad, identified as a deputy leader of the TTP and a most-wanted militant, during a clash near the Afghan border. The group confirmed his death.