Islamabad steps up heat on Kabul as Taliban warms up to Delhi

The Pakistan government backed by its military has started a multi-faceted exercise to corner and blame the ruling Taliban regime after US President Donald Trump’s move to suspend future visas of Afghans and a drone attack in Tajikistan that killed Chinese nationals.

With Pakistan-Afghanistan ties remaining fragile, senior Pakistani ministers have been issuing open threats to the Taliban and blaming the regime in Kabul for encouraging terrorism.

Last week Trump said asylum admissions for citizens of several countries, including Afghanistan, will remain suspended for “a long time,” following a fatal shooting in Washington involving an Afghan national.


People said Islamabad immediately jumped onto this development and blamed Kabul for terror attacks. Similarly, after the drone incident that killed Chinese nationals in Tajikistan, Pakistan immediately blamed the Taliban and tried to drive a wedge between Kabul and Dushanbe, the people said.

Last week the Pakistan Army alleged that the Afghanistan Taliban was facilitating terrorists to infiltrate the border for carrying out acts of terror in the country. Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who is head of the army's media wing the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), made the allegation during an interaction with journalists in Islamabad.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated amid repeated allegations by Islamabad on the Taliban’s regime failure to deny safe havens to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists. Both sides had agreed on a ceasefire last month which currently remains uncertain.

Pakistan also expelled 4,470 Afghan nationals on Sunday, the Taliban-run Commission for Refugees Affairs said, as Islamabad continues its campaign to remove migrants lacking legal documentation.

The commission said an additional 364 Afghans were returned from Iran during the same period, through both forced and voluntary repatriations. According to the commission, the returnees entered Afghanistan via the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Bahramcha, Islam Qala and Pul-e Abrisham border crossings. Pakistan had also expelled 6,435 Afghans on November 29, the commission said.