Pakistan Denies Arming Afghans Amid Taliban Security Dispute

The Government of Pakistan rejected allegations from former U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad that its military is arming Afghans to fight the Taliban and recruiting them to combat anti-Pakistan insurgents. Through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Islamabad described the claims as baseless and misleading, asserting that Khalilzad is recycling speculative narratives to support a personal agenda. Khalilzad warned that these tensions could cause relations between Islamabad and Kabul to get much worse.

Simultaneously, Pakistan urged the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan to take verifiable action against militants operating from its territory, specifically the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Citing reports from the UN Security Council and the US Lead Inspector General, Pakistan claimed that between 4,000 and 6,000 TTP fighters use Afghan soil to launch attacks. This demand follows a surge in militant violence in Pakistan, with over 2,800 attacks and 3,000 deaths reported since January, primarily in the northwest and Balochistan.

The Afghan Taliban government rejected these claims, with spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid asserting that Kabul is not responsible for Pakistan's internal insecurity. Mujahid accused Pakistani agencies of shifting blame for their own security failures. Pakistan dismissed these responses as diversionary tactics and vowed to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty against cross-border infiltration.