Taliban Information Minister Khairullah Khairkhwa made the rare remarks just days after the Pakistani military reportedly conducted airstrikes against suspected terrorist locations in an eastern Afghan border province.
Islamabad has refrained from publicly acknowledging the cross-border strikes, but Pakistani security officials anonymously confirmed and told reporters that the military action had targeted and destroyed several “terrorist hideouts” of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an outlawed group engaged in lethal attacks against Pakistan. Several key TTP commanders were also said to be among more than a dozen militants killed.
This is the first public admission by a senior Taliban leader regarding the presence of TTP operatives in the country. Previously, Taliban officials have vehemently denied their existence, claiming that no foreign militants are permitted to operate and pose a threat to other nations from Afghan soil.
TTP, designated as a global terrorist organization by the United Nations, has escalated attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban’s August 2021 resurgence to power in Kabul, killing hundreds of Pakistani civilians and security personnel.
On Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his government’s intention to enhance economic and trade relations with Afghanistan. However, he stated that the threat of TTP-led cross-border terrorism impedes that progress.
“Unfortunately, the TTP continues to operate from there and killing innocent people inside Pakistan. This cannot go on,” Sharif said in his televised remarks to a Cabinet meeting in Islamabad. “They must rein in TTP. … This constitutes a red line for us. The TTP operating from Afghan soil is unacceptable under any circumstances,” he stressed.
Sharif said his country was ready to talk with the Afghan government to address the issue. “But there can be no progress if, on the one hand, they seek to foster relations with Pakistan while simultaneously permitting TTP to operate with impunity,” he emphasized.
