Trump says welcome to mediate between Islamabad and Kabul with 48-hour ceasefire underway
Any transgression by Afghanistan will result in swift response from Pakistan: Khawaja Asif
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned that if Afghanistan violates the 48-hour ceasefire established from 6 pm on Wednesday (yesterday) at the latter’s request, Pakistan will be forced to respond.
In a news segment aired on a private television channel, Asif said that the Afghan Taliban regime was effectively serving India’s interests, while the Kabul government was waging a proxy war on behalf of India.
Referring to the US president, the Defense Minister said: “Donald Trump has made efforts to achieve a ceasefire globally, and if he wants to mediate a ceasefire here as well, he will be welcome.”
Read: Explained: Pakistan-Afghanistan border conflict
Tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border escalated last weekend, when clashes broke out after Afghanistan opened unprovoked fire at multiple locations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, prompting a swift and forceful response from the Pakistan Army. Several Afghan posts were destroyed and dozens of Afghan soldiers and militants were killed.
Asif stated that the Taliban’s intentions are not to bring peace but to intensify the conflict. “The tanks that Afghanistan shows do not even exist in our arsenal. It is beyond comprehension why they make such false claims; I don’t know which junkyard they acquired those tanks from,” he said.
Asif further stated that Pakistan had agreed to hold talks and applied for visas in response to suggestions for dialogue from friendly countries. But once fighting broke out, the process was suspended and visa applications were withdrawn.
Read more: The Taliban regime obtains a 48-hour pardon
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the first clash took place on the night of October 11-12, when Afghan Taliban forces, supported by “Indian-sponsored Fitna al Khawarij elements,” launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan along the border.
Fitna al Khawarij is the state term for terrorists affiliated with the banned group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), coined in May 2025.
A 48-hour ceasefire was agreed upon at the behest of the Afghan Taliban regime after Pakistan’s “precision strikes” against the Taliban and terrorist hideouts in Kandahar and Kabul.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision was made at the request of the Taliban and with the mutual consent of both parties. Both sides should maintain constructive dialogue and make sincere efforts to find a “positive solution to a complex but solvable problem,” the ministry said.
