Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Wednesday there would be an “open war” if Kabul did not stop militants from launching attacks on Pakistani territory, marking one of Islamabad’s strongest public statements in recent weeks amid spiraling tensions between the neighbors.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have sharply deteriorated over the past year as Islamabad accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of sheltering militants linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, which Pakistan says has intensified attacks from bases inside Afghanistan..
Asif’s remarks, delivered on the floor of the National Assembly, came days after a deadly assault on a police post in the northwestern city of Bannu killed at least 14 police officers in a car bombing and ambush Pakistan has blamed on Afghanistan-based militants.
Another bombing in Lakki Marwat district on Tuesday killed at least nine people and wounded dozens in a crowded market in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
“Then only one alternative remains. Then there will be war,” Asif said, referring to what he described as Afghanistan’s refusal to stop militants from using its territory to launch attacks against Pakistan.
“It will be an open war.”
The defense minister said Islamabad had repeatedly attempted dialogue with Kabul, including talks mediated or facilitated by Qatar, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, but failed to secure written assurances from Afghan authorities that attacks against Pakistan would stop.
“I myself personally conducted three rounds of talks,” Asif said.
“You cannot imagine… there were talks lasting 12 hours, 13 hours, even 19 hours with the Kabul government, but under no circumstances are they willing to put anything in writing.”
Asif also directly linked the Afghan Taliban government to India, Pakistan’s main regional rival.
“If they are not willing to abandon the terrorists, and if they are not prepared to commit to ending support for those terrorists, then the Kabul government at this moment is acting as a proxy of India,” he said.
“Hindutva is fighting its war against us through Kabul, Afghanistan,” the defense minister said, referring to the Hindu nationalist ideology associated with India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated sharply over the past year amid rising cross-border violence, with the two sides engaging in some of their fiercest military clashes in years since late 2025.
Despite the tensions, Asif said Pakistan still preferred dialogue if Kabul was willing to address Islamabad’s security concerns. “Our wish, of course, is that there should be a difference,” he said.
“That they should talk to us. That they should come to some kind of arrangement with us. So that some solution to this terrorism can be found.”
Separately, at least five army soldiers were martyred while one was critically injured by a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Balochistan’s Barkhan on Wednesday, a police official said.
A Pakistan Army artillery unit traveling from Nosham area in Balochistan to the Loralai Garrison was targeted in the blast around 2:10 p.m., the police official said.
“Five soldiers of Pakistan Army, including a major rank officer, were martyred,” Afridi told Arab News.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the IED attack. However, banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) have increased attacks against security forces in recent months.