According to a report by Dawn, Pakistan's Ministry of Information has strongly denied statements made by former United States envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. Posting on the platform X, Khalilzad claimed that Pakistan was arming Afghans to fight the Taliban and enlisting Afghan nationals to oppose anti-Pakistan militants. The ministry dismissed these assertions as speculative and baseless, stating they serve a personal agenda to support the Taliban regime.
What happened
The Pakistani government clarified that its military actions are legitimate counterterrorism operations directed at armed groups operating out of Afghanistan, rather than attempts to sponsor or recruit fighters across the border. Officials noted that Khalilzad's claims shift focus away from the Afghan Taliban's duty to stop their territory from being utilized by proxies for terrorism against Pakistan.
Key facts
- Pakistan's information ministry cited United Nations monitoring reports verifying that banned militant groups, including Al-Qaeda and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), remain active inside Afghanistan.
- Khalilzad previously negotiated the agreement between the United States and the Taliban that resulted in the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan.
- The Foreign Office of Pakistan previously rebuffed advice from Khalilzad in March 2023, after which the US State Department clarified that he did not represent the Biden administration's foreign policy.
- In November of the previous year, Pakistani authorities refuted claims by Khalilzad regarding the presence of Islamic State-Khorasan in Punjab, explaining that the reported incident involved a robbery rather than a counterterrorism operation.
Why it matters
As reported by Dawn, diplomatic ties between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated in recent years due to persistent concerns over cross-border militant activity. The dispute follows military friction in September, during which Pakistan executed targeted airstrikes near the border following terror attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resulting in drone incursions and further retaliatory strikes.
Source: Dawn - Home · Published October 24, 2026 · Photo by SK Sherazi on Unsplash