Pakistan's Defence Minister Issues Severe Warning to Taliban: "Will Push Them Back To Caves"

Khawaja Asif threatened the Afghan Taliban and said that Islamabad would "completely obliterate" them

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday issued a severe warning to the Afghan Taliban, declaring that Islamabad would not need even a small portion of its military capabilities to "completely obliterate" them and force them "back to the caves for hiding".

Following the failure of a four-day diplomatic dialogue in Istanbul between the two neighboring nations, Asif shared this stark warning on social media platform X.

"Let me assure them that Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding. If they wish so, the repeat of the scenes of their rout at Tora Bora with their tails between the legs would surely be a spectacle to watch for the people of the region," he wrote.

The peace negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Turkey, aimed to establish a peace agreement following a violent border clash that resulted in 70 casualties. However, these talks collapsed after Pakistan publicly admitted for the first time that it has an arrangement with the United States allowing drone operations from Pakistani territory.

Sources from Afghanistan have cautioned that any future military strikes by Pakistan will be met with "reciprocal action," stating that if Afghan soil is bombed, "Islamabad will be targeted."

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced on X that the dialogue concluded without reaching a "workable solution." He further accused Afghanistan of engaging in "blame game, deflection and ruses."

"Regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances, kept deviating from the core issue and resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses," Tarar stated.

"Pakistan participated in the spirit of peace, but Kabul continues its unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists... We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism," he added.

Pakistani officials accused the Taliban leadership of permitting Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to conduct operations against Pakistan and demanded that the Afghan Taliban "summon and control" all violent groups. The Afghan representatives responded by asserting that it exceeded Kabul's authority to "control Pakistan's own citizens".

Despite the unsuccessful talks, the ceasefire remained intact, with no new confrontations reported along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.