Pakistan’s defense minister said internal divisions within the Taliban have contributed to Pakistan’s deteriorating security situation and regional instability, adding that the Taliban have failed to provide Islamabad with concrete assurances on curbing militancy.
Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the Taliban were split into rival factions based in Kabul and Kandahar, with differing approaches to governance and freedoms, and that the divisions had become apparent to the international community.
“These differences are now visible to the world,” Asif said in televised remarks. “One faction wants to slightly open space, while the other wants to impose complete suppression of all freedoms.”
Asif said Pakistan’s security situation had worsened significantly since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, despite multiple rounds of talks between Islamabad and the Taliban.
“Since the Taliban came to power, instability and insecurity inside Pakistan have multiplied,” he said, adding that Pakistan had held talks with the Taliban on at least five occasions but received only verbal assurances and no practical guarantees.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of failing to act against the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad says is responsible for a wave of deadly attacks inside Pakistan and operates from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have denied allowing Afghanistan’s territory to be used against Pakistan, but Pakistani officials say talks held in Doha, Istanbul and Riyadh on the issue have failed to produce results.
Relations between Islamabad and the Taliban have remained strained and volatile, with cross-border security concerns and militant violence continuing to test ties between the two neighbours.
