Pakistan Reserves Right to Act Against Threats from Afghanistan, Says Minister Chaudhry

In a statement on X, the ministry said the allegations were based on speculation and were intended to support the Taliban administration.

The response came after Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, claimed that Pakistan was recruiting Afghans to fight anti-Pakistan insurgents.

Pakistan's Information Ministry stressed that its operations targeted armed groups operating from areas under Taliban control in Afghanistan that threatened the security of Pakistani citizens. It added that such operations should not be equated with allegations of recruiting Afghan nationals or supporting armed groups inside Afghanistan.

The ministry also referred to United Nations monitoring reports, saying that groups including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al-Qaeda continued to maintain a presence and operate in Afghanistan. It held the Taliban administration responsible for preventing Afghan territory from being used to launch attacks against Pakistan and alleged that Indian-backed proxy groups were also operating from Afghan soil against Pakistan.

However, The New York Times reported on 22 October 2026 that Pakistani military and intelligence officials had met leaders of armed groups opposed to the Taliban in recent months and discussed the possibility of providing them with support. The report emerged as Islamabad continued to deny allegations that it was backing Afghan armed groups.

Khalilzad served as the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation during Donald Trump's first presidency and negotiated Washington's agreement with the Taliban, which led to the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan.

He has visited Afghanistan several times over the past five years and maintained close relations with the Taliban. Khalilzad has also repeatedly called for the release of Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan, from prison.

Swiss newspaper Le Courrier reported on Saturday, 24 October, citing documents obtained by the investigative group WAV through transparency laws, that the four-member Taliban delegation stayed at Geneva's Mövenpick Hotel for two nights, from 19 to 21 August 2025. The visit cost approximately $16,250.

According to published receipts, the Swiss government paid each of the four Taliban representatives a daily allowance of 150 Swiss francs upon arrival. Swiss officials said the money was intended to cover expenses related to meetings and local transport.

The delegation travelled to Switzerland to identify 13 Afghan nationals who had been convicted of crimes in the country and whom Swiss authorities intended to deport. Documents show that Swiss officials had shared the individuals' personal information with Taliban representatives before the interviews.

According to the final report, Taliban representatives confirmed the identities of eight individuals. Following further checks, one additional person's identity was verified, but the Taliban agreed to issue documents for only six people. Switzerland's State Secretariat for Migration said three individuals were ultimately deported to Afghanistan, with further deportations planned.

The cooperation has drawn criticism from asylum law experts and human rights organisations, who warned that sharing asylum seekers' personal information with the Taliban authorities could endanger their safety and lend legitimacy to the group.

Jean Tschopp, a Social Democratic Party member of the Swiss parliament, said the cooperation went beyond providing consular services to Afghan citizens.

He said that this approach legitimises an authoritarian regime, while it remains unclear what guarantees, if any, were obtained regarding the fate of the individuals concerned.

Switzerland's State Secretariat for Migration maintained that the Taliban delegation's visit was consular in nature and that issuing visas to its members did not constitute recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan's government.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan told a press conference on Friday, 23 October, that further talks would be pointless unless the Taliban acknowledged the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan and established a credible mechanism to prevent security threats against neighbouring countries.

Khan said reports by the UN monitoring team and the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction indicated that more than 20 terrorist groups were currently based in Afghanistan and operating without effective control.

He said these groups threatened not only Pakistan but also other regional countries, including China, Uzbekistan and Iran.

Referring to casualties from cross-border attacks, the spokesman said more than 1,300 Pakistani citizens had been killed over the past year amid an increase in terrorist attacks.

He said Islamabad had continuously engaged with the Taliban since 2021 through bilateral meetings and international forums, including talks in the Moscow Format and meetings involving Qatar, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and China.

However, Khan said those efforts had failed to produce results because of what he described as the Taliban’s lack of flexibility.

Asked about possible Russian mediation between Islamabad and Kabul, Khan said Pakistan valued Moscow’s role in regional security but that no new proposal or initiative was currently on the table.

He also criticised the Taliban’s position at the recent Moscow Format meeting, saying the group had refused to acknowledge the presence of terrorist organisations in Afghanistan or endorse the joint declaration.

Khan said this reflected a new level of non-cooperation and argued that continued talks would have little value unless the Taliban accepted responsibility for containing such threats.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special presidential representative for Afghanistan, previously confirmed that the eighth Moscow Format meeting ended without a joint declaration because of disagreements between the Taliban and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has previously said the country is prepared to reopen border crossings and resume trade with Afghanistan if the Taliban cooperates in preventing armed groups that Islamabad says cross from Afghan territory into Pakistan.

The Taliban has repeatedly denied the presence of foreign armed groups in Afghanistan and rejected claims that Afghan territory is being used against neighbouring countries.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on X that insecurity in Pakistan was not in Afghanistan’s interests and that the group did not support it.

“Instability in Pakistan is detrimental to Afghanistan economic, social, and in humanitarian terms,” he said.

In a statement on Friday, 23 October, Mujahid said that whenever Pakistan’s military establishment and other security institutions fail to provide security, they blame Afghanistan for attacks.

He claimed Pakistani security agencies attribute deadly attacks to the Afghan Taliban to mislead the public.

Mujahid also accused Islamabad of spending money on what he described as projects aimed at destabilising Afghanistan.

He warned that such an approach amounted to “evading their primary and fundamental responsibilities, undermining regional stability, and wasting economic resources on futile endeavors”.

“It is by no means in Afghanistan’s interest to create insecurity in Pakistan or to support any acts of instability there,” Mujahid wrote.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that militants were entering the country from Afghanistan around the clock and targeting civilians and security forces.

Speaking at a National Action Plan committee meeting in Peshawar, he said the bloodshed had to stop completely.

Sharif sharply criticised insecurity along the border, saying attackers entering from Afghanistan were killing soldiers, police officers and innocent civilians.

Warning about the consequences of failing to act against armed groups, he said that if terrorists roam freely across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, take control of areas in the evenings and extort money while we simply watch, neither the people nor God will forgive us.

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan fighters and Baloch militants. The Afghan Taliban has repeatedly denied the allegations.

However, UN Security Council reports have confirmed the presence of TTP members and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban returned to power, insecurity in Pakistan has risen sharply, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border.

A Pakistani research centre reported on 3 October that casualties linked to militant activity rose by an unprecedented 83 per cent in the third quarter of 2026, with at least 1,415 people killed across the country.

According to the report, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the most insecure provinces, accounting for 98 per cent of all casualties recorded nationwide during the period.

Bennett said in a statement that countries must respect the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to places where they face persecution or human rights abuses.

He also expressed concern over meetings between Taliban delegations and European Union officials, including talks in Brussels, warning that such contacts, even when described as technical, could contribute to normalising widespread human rights abuses by the Taliban, particularly the gender-based persecution and repression of women and girls.

Bennett stressed that relations with the Taliban should not be normalised and the group should not be granted legitimacy until there is tangible improvement in Afghanistan’s human rights situation.

He added that he was still awaiting responses to formal correspondence he had sent to the European Union and several countries on the issue.

Writing on X, Bennett said: “I join other UN mandate holders warning EU and other states that they must not send Afghans back to danger and must uphold their international human rights obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement.”

UN experts on Thursday, 22 October, also expressed concern over the deportation of Afghan nationals from European countries.

They stressed that EU member states are required under international human rights and refugee law to respect the principle of non-refoulement and not return people to unsafe countries.

The experts described Afghanistan’s human rights situation as grave and said women and girls face widespread and systematic gender-based persecution.

They said such actions could amount to crimes against humanity.

European Countries Expand Engagement With Taliban

Bennett’s warning and the statement by UN experts come as several European countries have expanded technical contacts with the Taliban to facilitate the deportation of Afghans.

On 23 June this year, a Taliban delegation met representatives of the European Commission and 15 EU member states in Brussels to discuss the return of Afghan nationals.

The European Commission described the meeting as technical and stressed that holding the talks did not amount to recognition of the Taliban.

Germany has resumed deportations of Afghans, while Austria has also established contact with the Taliban to facilitate returns.

Norway has engaged with the group on consular matters, and France announced in October that it had begun technical talks over the return of some Afghans without legal residency.

Despite this cooperation, the countries involved have not recognised the Taliban government. Critics, however, warn that such engagement could strengthen the group’s de facto legitimacy in Europe.