The Foreign Office (FO) stated on Friday that the existing ceasefire with Afghanistan should not be viewed as a “traditional” one, but rather as an arrangement dependent on whether any terrorist activity is launched against Pakistan from Afghan territory.
Ties between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have fallen to their lowest level since the group took control of Kabul four years ago. Border crossings have been shut since October 11, and trade has been frozen after clashes on the ground and Pakistani airstrikes along the 2,600km border, which resulted in dozens of casualties on both sides the most severe fighting since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover.
In the aftermath of those confrontations, Turkiye and Qatar initiated mediation efforts. The first round of talks in Doha led to a fragile pause in hostilities, while the second round — also held in Doha produced only a general understanding to create a mechanism for verifying commitments and to keep dialogue ongoing. The third session concluded without any solid outcome.
Tensions rose again after Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of launching airstrikes earlier this week claims that Pakistan’s military and government ministers rejected. Kabul additionally issued threats of retaliation.
During his weekly press briefing, FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi was asked about the Afghan warnings and the unsteady ceasefire. He responded: “The ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan does not imply a traditional ceasefire implemented after two belligerent states in a war or a conflict situation. Pakistan-Afghanistan ceasefire implied that there would be no terrorist attack by Afghan-sponsored terrorist proxies into Pakistan. There have been major terrorist attacks after this ceasefire.”
He added: “So, interpreting in that sense, the ceasefire is not holding because the ceasefire was about ceasing terrorist attacks inside Pakistan by TTP, FAK, and Afghan nationals using Afghan soil.”
Andrabi went on to say that “if Afghan nationals are attacking, as they did so in Islamabad and elsewhere, so we cannot be very optimistic about the ceasefire, which, in any case, I mentioned, is not the traditional ceasefire between the two states, but to be understood in the context of terrorist attacks from Afghanistan.”
He emphasised that Pakistan’s security forces remained fully vigilant and that the military was well-prepared to respond to any potential threat from the Afghan side.
“The security challenges we face would be addressed with the seriousness that they merit.”
Even before this week’s latest rise in tensions, the information ministry had stated earlier in the month that all militants involved in the assault on Cadet College Wana in South Waziristan were Afghan nationals.
Those attackers attempted to infiltrate the institution by targeting its main gate, but prompt action by security personnel prevented a major tragedy. Government officials linked the incident to Afghanistan, saying it had been coordinated from there.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry also confirmed that the suicide attacker who struck outside the Islamabad district and sessions court building was “not a Pakistani national”.
The blast in Islamabad’s G-11 sector killed 12 people and wounded 36 others.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused both Afghanistan and India of fueling terrorism, vowing a “befitting response” to Pakistan’s adversaries following the two incidents.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif later stated that strikes on militant hideouts inside Afghanistan could not be dismissed after the attacks in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
