Pakistan presses Taliban to dismantle militant sanctuaries
Pakistan urged the Afghan Taliban to dismantle militant sanctuaries, citing UN and US reports and calling for credible, verifiable action from Kabul
Aamir Abbasi
Editor, Islamabad
Aamir; a journalist with 15 years of experience, working in Newspaper, TV and Digital Media. Worked in Field, covered Big Legal Constitutional and Political Events in Pakistan since 2009 with Pakistan’s Top Media Organizations. Graduate of Quaid I Azam University Islamabad.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to dismantle militant sanctuaries and take verifiable action against groups operating from Afghan territory.
It said international reports support Islamabad’s concerns that fighters based across the border are carrying out attacks inside Pakistan.
Why is Pakistan urging the Taliban to dismantle militant sanctuaries?
Pakistan says militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), operate from Afghan territory and carry out attacks inside Pakistan. The ministry said Kabul must address those concerns instead of issuing blanket denials, and called for credible explanations and verifiable action, citing a UN Security Council monitoring report and a US report.
Ministry of Information and BroadcastingIslamabad, 24 October 2026Taking note of the recent statements of the Afghan Taliban Regime where they have once again resorted to diversionary allegations instead of addressing Pakistan’s legitimate and longstanding security concerns. Blaming Pakistan’s security institutions does not absolve the Regime of its responsibility to prevent Afghan territory from being used for terrorism against Pakistan.Pakistan’s concerns are not based on conjecture. The UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, in its sixteenth report (S/2025/796), examined the presence and activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. The US Lead Inspector General’s Operation Enduring Sentinel report to Congress for January–March 2026 further stated that the Afghan Taliban continued to allow Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan territory and that Taliban support and greater freedom for the group contributed to increased attacks against Pakistan. The report estimated TTP strength at 4,000–6,000 fighters. These assessments underscore the seriousness of Pakistan’s concerns regarding terrorist sanctuaries and support networks operating from Afghan soil.The assertion that Afghanistan lacks either the capacity or the interest to destabilise Pakistan does not address these documented concerns. Repeated attempts by armed terrorists to infiltrate across Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the killing of Afghan nationals and members of terrorist groups during Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations, and the recovery of foreign-origin weapons from terrorist elements, all warrant serious scrutiny. Pakistan has also raised concerns over alleged facilitation of terrorist groups by Afghan Taliban officials, including officials in Kandahar. Such concerns cannot be dismissed through blanket denials; they require credible explanations and verifiable action.Pakistan’s security measures are directed against terrorist threats, not the Afghan people. Peace and stability in both countries are closely linked, and the Afghan people stand as much to gain from a region free of terrorism as their Pakistani neighbours. The Afghan Taliban Regime must end any tolerance, facilitation or support for terrorist organisations, including TTP, BLA and their affiliates, and ensure that Afghan territory is not used to plan, prepare or launch attacks against Pakistan.Attempts to portray Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and necessary defensive measures as hostility towards Afghanistan will neither deflect attention from the issue nor resolve it. Pakistan will continue to take all necessary measures to protect its citizens, sovereignty and territorial integrity. It remains open to responsible engagement based on mutual respect, verifiable commitments and concrete action against terrorist sanctuaries, support networks and cross-border infiltration. However, Afghan Taliban Regime must understand that peace can only prevail in the region if Pakistan’s core concern of terrorism originating from Afghanistan is verifiably addressed by the Afghan Taliban.
— Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (@MoIB_Official) October 24, 2026
In a statement issued on Saturday, the ministry rejected allegations against its security institutions. It said assertions that Afghanistan lacked either the capacity or the intention to destabilize Pakistan did not resolve its concerns about militant groups operating from Afghan territory.
The ministry cited a report by the United Nations Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team and a US Lead Inspector General report on Operation Enduring Sentinel covering January to March 2026.
What do the reports cited by Pakistan say about the TTP?
According to Pakistan’s account of the US report, the Taliban continued to allow the TTP to operate from Afghanistan. The group benefited from support and greater operational freedom, which contributed to an increase in attacks inside Pakistan. The report estimated the TTP had between 4,000 and 6,000 fighters, the ministry said.
The ministry also pointed to attempted cross-border infiltrations, the deaths of Afghan nationals and militant-group members during Pakistani counter-terrorism operations, and the recovery of foreign-origin weapons from militants. It further raised concerns about alleged facilitation of armed groups by Taliban officials, including in Kandahar, and called for credible explanations and verifiable action.
What does Pakistan want the Taliban authorities to do?
Pakistan called on the Taliban authorities to end any tolerance of, or support for, militant organisations, including the TTP and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and their affiliates. Afghan territory, it said, must not be used to plan, prepare or launch attacks against Pakistan.
The ministry said its security measures were directed at militant threats, not the Afghan people, and argued that stability in the two neighbouring countries was closely linked. Islamabad also rejected claims that its security concerns and defensive measures reflected hostility towards Afghanistan, saying such accusations would not resolve the underlying problem.
Pakistan would continue to take measures to protect its citizens, sovereignty and territorial integrity, the ministry said, while remaining open to engagement with Kabul based on mutual respect, verifiable commitments and action against militant sanctuaries and cross-border infiltration. It said lasting regional peace would depend on the Taliban authorities addressing Pakistan’s concerns about attacks originating from Afghan territory.
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