Islamabad, November 29,2025: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday that Afghanistan’s interim Taliban administration has informed Pakistan of the detention of “hundreds of TTP militants,” but insisted the action falls short of Islamabad’s expectations.
Speaking at a press briefing on his diplomatic visits to Moscow, Berlin and Brussels, Dar revealed that Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi had invited Pakistan to send a delegation to verify the arrests.
“Muttaqi invited us to come and confirm the detention of hundreds of TTP members,” Dar said. “But this is not enough.”
Dar reiterated Pakistan’s long-standing stance that Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan.
“Islamabad maintains that far more decisive and sustained action is needed against TTP — Fitna al-Khawarij — elements operating from Afghan territory,” he said, using the term the state applies to the banned militant group.
Pakistan has experienced a surge in terrorism since the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021. Despite repeated requests, Kabul has yet to curb TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Most recently, on November 25, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed that TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud orchestrated the Islamabad suicide attack that martyred 12 people.
Relations between the neighbours deteriorated sharply in October after Taliban fighters — supported by TTP militants — attacked Pakistani border posts, martyring nearly two dozen soldiers. Pakistan retaliated with major strikes inside Afghan territory.
A ceasefire was later brokered in Doha with the help of friendly countries, but talks broke down after the Taliban refused to provide a written commitment to act against TTP leaders wanted by Islamabad.
Dar, who has visited Kabul three times recently, stressed that Pakistan’s sincerity toward Afghanistan “is not hidden from anyone.”
He lamented that there had been no high-level engagement between the two governments for four years, calling for the dialogue process to be restored.
Warning Kabul to reconsider its policies, Dar said Pakistan had paid a heavy price for cross-border militancy.
“Pakistan has carried the coffins of its own soldiers due to continued attacks. Since 2021, we have suffered 4,000 martyrdoms,” he said.
He reiterated Pakistan’s sole demand: Afghan territory must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan. Islamabad has also urged Kabul to relocate TTP militants away from the border or hand them over.
Dar said his April 19 visit to Kabul had produced some positive developments, including progress on a Pak-Afghan railway agreement.
He added that during his trip to China, Beijing proposed a trilateral meeting in Kabul, and Pakistan immediately agreed.
“Despite our single and clear demand, there has been no positive progress from Afghanistan,” Dar noted.
Responding to a question about regional mediation efforts, Dar confirmed that Pakistan had been prepared to launch a “cleanup operation” inside Afghanistan earlier this year.
“Qatar was aware of our planned kinetic operation. They, along with Turkiye, requested Pakistan to pause and took responsibility for resolving the matter,” he said, thanking Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir for withholding the operation.
However, Dar said two to three rounds of talks yielded “no results,” and the mediators eventually withdrew “in embarrassment” after the Taliban refused to soften their stance.
Dar clarified that Pakistan did not close border crossings with Afghanistan “out of happiness.”
“It was a security necessity,” he said, adding that divisions within the Afghan Taliban leadership were complicating matters.
“Half are inclined towards peace, while the other half think otherwise,” he remarked.
