RASC News Agency: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Wednesday, February 11, issued strong warnings against the Taliban over what he described as a growing wave of cross-border militant attacks, vowing that Islamabad would hold those responsible accountable for the bloodshed.
Speaking during a parliamentary session, Asif said Pakistan had recently experienced a sharp rise in terrorist violence, including a deadly suicide attack in Islamabad that killed and wounded dozens of people. Pakistani officials, including Asif, have blamed militant groups operating from Afghanistan’s territory an allegation repeatedly denied by both the Taliban and the authorities in Kabul.
Asif claimed that in several instances the Taliban had provided support to militants linked to Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups, enabling continued violence in Pakistan’s border regions.
He said Islamabad had made repeated efforts to resolve the issue through formal talks held in Doha (Qatar), Istanbul (Turkey), and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), but that these initiatives had produced no tangible results.
The defence minister further alleged that during previous negotiations, Taliban representatives had demanded large sums of money in exchange for relocating militant groups away from Pakistan’s borders without offering any guarantees that attacks would stop.
“We cannot simply pay money,” Asif said. “Our cooperation must be based on sincere and results-oriented efforts.”
Reiterating his warning, he added:
“The blood of Pakistanis will not go unanswered. If they demand a price for blood, then blood will be answered with blood.”
During the same session, Asif also responded to remarks by opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, whom he accused of making “irresponsible” statements that, according to him, sought to undermine Pakistan’s armed forces. Asif described the comments as an attempt to “discredit national institutions.”
The remarks come amid continued tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over cross-border militancy and the presence of armed groups in the region. Since the withdrawal of U.S. forces and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban to take effective action against groups such as the TTP and other militant networks claims the Taliban have consistently rejected.
