KABUL — Taliban on Sunday rejected reports that Pakistan is planning a military operation against ISIS-affiliated groups in Afghanistan, calling the claims inaccurate and baseless.
Talking to Amu TV, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesman, said that such reports were “one-sided analyses rather than factual accounts.”
His remarks came after Drop Site News, a U.S.-based media outlet, reported that the Pakistani military was considering launching a large-scale operation against ISIS in Afghanistan, which could escalate regional tensions and potentially draw the United States back into conflict. The report, citing unnamed sources, suggested the operation might involve airstrikes and ground incursions.
Mujahid dismissed the report outright. “This is a unilateral analysis, not an accurate report,” he said. “It is speculation with no solid basis.”
Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan have deteriorated in recent months, with Islamabad repeatedly accusing the Taliban of harboring militants from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group responsible for attacks inside Pakistan. Some analysts believe these tensions have contributed to recent border clashes between the two sides.
In the most violent incident to date, Pakistani airstrikes on the Barmal district of Afghanistan’s Paktika province last month killed at least 46 people, including women and children, according to Afghan officials. Pakistani media, however, claimed the strikes targeted as many as 70 TTP fighters.
While the Taliban continue to deny the presence of militant groups on Afghan soil, a United Nations report estimates that as many as 6,000 TTP fighters are operating within Afghanistan.
