Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Hours after deciding to send 20,000 troops to Gaza to help Israel and the US keep ceasefire and crush Hamas, Pakistan threatened to ‘obliterate’ the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan if it resumed conflict violating the Durand Line, as it accused Kabul of being New Delhi’s puppet.
Analysts say Pakistan is doing all this to keep America in good humor and go for the Taliban’s jugular to weaken its regime enough to hand over the Bagram airbase again to the USA for targeting China’s Xinjiang and other volatile regions. Pakistan is already using drones to attack Afghanistan.
After its ‘peace talks’ with the Taliban failed to reach any consensus in Doha (Qatar) recently, its deliberations with Afghan officials also collapsed in Turkiye with Pakistan accusing the Afghans of backtracking on commitments, the media reported on Wednesday.
The four-day talks began on October 25 and were facilitated by the host, Turkiye, where officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan attempted to find a common ground even as the ongoing border clashes between the two neighbours continued to claim dozens of lives of terrorists and soldiers alike.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News on Tuesday night that an agreement was about to be reached with Afghanistan, but Afghan negotiators backpedalled due to intervention from Kabul during the negotiations. The Taliban negotiators went back on an agreement “four or five times” after receiving instructions from Kabul.
“Whenever we got close to an agreement — either in the last four days or last week — when negotiators reported to Kabul, then there was intervention and the agreement was withdrawn.”
Asif also blamed India for the failure of the talks, calling Kabul “a tool for Delhi.”
Boasting about Pakistan’s firepower, he also threatened Afghanistan: “Let me assure them that Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding. If they wish so, the repeat of the scenes of their rout at Tora Bora, with their tails between the legs, would surely be a spectacle to watch for the people of the region,” Dawn reported Asif as saying.
Meanwhile, Kabul blamed Pakistan for the failed peace talks in Turkey after Islamabad disagreed “to stop violating Afghan airspace and prevent US drone flights,” Tolo News reported citing sources.
The violence, which left more than 70 people dead and wounded hundreds more, erupted after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9, attacks that the Taliban attributed to Pakistan.
Asif also warned Afghanistan against any “terrorist attack or any suicide bombing inside Pakistan.”
“We have borne your treachery and mockery for too long, but no more. Any terrorist attack or any suicide bombing inside Pakistan shall give you the bitter taste of such misadventures. Be rest assured and test our resolve and capabilities, if you wish so, at your own peril and doom,” Dawn quoted Asif as saying.
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar confirmed the peace talks ended without a breakthrough. “The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution,” he said in a post on social media, adding Islamabad had long sought cooperation from Kabul against militants targeting the country.
He said Islamabad had asked the Taliban regime “time and again to fulfil their written commitments to Pakistan and to the international community in the Doha Agreement.” However, he said, “Pakistan’s fervent efforts proved futile due to the Afghan Taliban’s unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists.”
“The Taliban regime bears no responsibility towards the people of Afghanistan and thrives on a war economy,” he said, adding that it “desires to drag and mire the Afghan people into a needless war.”
“Pakistan has always desired, advocated and immensely sacrificed for peace and prosperity for the people of Afghanistan,” Tarar claimed.
He said Pakistan has held countless rounds of talks and parleys with the Afghan Taliban regime, but they always remained indifferent to Pakistan’s losses.
“Sadly, after sustaining such huge losses of men and material for four long years, Pakistan’s patience has run its course,” he added.
Tarar said Pakistan joined the talks in Doha and later Istanbul “to give peace a chance,” acting on the request of “brotherly countries of Qatar and Turkiye.”
Pakistan presented “sufficient and irrefutable evidence” of terrorist activity, which “was acknowledged by Afghan Taliban and the hosts,” but “regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances.”
“The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue, evading the key point upon which the dialogue process was initiated. Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to a blame game, deflection, and ruses,” Tarar said.
He thanked Qatar, Turkiye, and other ‘friendly’ nations “for their support and sincere efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to the problem of terrorism.”
Although there has been no direct statements from Kabul’s side, media reports stated that the talks broke down as “Pakistani delegation reportedly presented demands that were also unacceptable to both sides.”
According to Tolo News, Islamabad pressed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to formally classify the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as a terrorist organization and to act against the group.
Reacting to this, Afghanistan defence minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, said, “Pakistan and other countries use the label of terrorism for political purposes against their opponents.”
However, a Pakistani security source said the Afghan delegation initially agreed to act decisively against the TTP but repeatedly backtracked under instructions from Kabul. Following the October 9 Kabul explosions, the Taliban launched a border offensive—prompting Pakistani strikes in response. A 48-hour ceasefire collapsed before a new truce was reached on October 19 in Doha, with Qatar and Turkey mediating.
The border has now been shut for over two weeks, allowing only expelled Afghans to cross, leaving goods stranded and spoiling in places like Spin Boldak.