Afghanistan warns Pakistan of ‘consequences’ if it launches cross-border attacks

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s defense ministry has hit back at Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif’s recent statements in which he threatened cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, warning Islamabad it would be responsible for the ensuing “consequences.”

In an interview with a foreign news outlet on Thursday, Asif said “nothing is more important than Pakistan’s sovereignty” when asked whether Pakistan would consider cross-border attacks in Afghanistan to contain militants.

Pakistan blames the Taliban-led government for harboring militants on Afghan soil. Islamabad alleges that the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) launched attacks in Pakistan from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Kabul has denied the allegations and said Pakistan’s security lapses are its internal responsibility.

“It’s necessary for the leadership of Pakistan not to allow anyone to make such sensitive statement on sensitive issues,” Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry wrote on social media platform X.

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“Anyone who violates our border under any pretext will be responsible for the consequences,” it added.

The ministry repeated that it was Afghanistan’s principle position that it does not allow Afghan soil to be used against any country.

Tensions came to a head in March when Pakistan targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the TTP inside Afghanistan via airstrikes. Pakistan struck the targets two days after insurgents killed seven Pakistani soldiers in a suicide bombing and coordinated attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but are allies of the Afghanistan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 as the US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan emboldened TTP, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding in Afghanistan.

Though the Taliban government in Afghanistan often says it will not allow TTP or any other militant group to attack Pakistan or any other country from its soil, the Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks inside Pakistan in recent years, straining relations with the Afghan Taliban government.