Hundreds of trucks lined the winding, mountainous road leading to Torkhum, the Pakistan-Afghan border crossing on Thursday. Pakistani officials say that is because exports to Afghanistan have dwindled in the days after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) take over. But some truck drivers were upbeat because they said the vegetable and fruit season in Afghanistan had helped increase exports […]

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations director general, Major General Babar Iftikhar said Islamabad is satisfied with the assurances by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) that they will not allow any group to use Afghan territory to carry out terrorist activities against any country, including Pakistan. In an interview with Urdu News, Iftikhar said: “The Taliban (IEA) have reiterated on several […]

Pakistan or any other country has no right to ask the Taliban for establishing an ‘inclusive’ government in Afghanistan, the movement says. Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted he had launched talks with the Taliban on the creation of a broad-based government, On Monday, a Pakistani newspaper quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying he was collecting information about […]

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said the best way forward for peace and stability in Afghanistan is to engage with the Islamic Emirate and “incentivize” them on issues such as women’s rights and inclusive government. Speaking to CNN from Islamabad on Wednesday, Khan spoke about enduring what he perceived as a “terrible” relationship with the United States that has been […]

A number of people have reacted to a report in a Pakistani newspaper that said business deals in Afghanistan should be based on Pakistani rupees, stressing that no one should use the Pakistani currency and those using it should be punished. Daily Jang, a Pakistani newspaper in a report quoted the country’s finance minister, ShawkatTareen as saying that Afghanistan faced […]

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday night in response to the Taliban’s announcement of an interim government that Islamabad hopes the new political dispensation will ensure coordinated efforts for peace, security and stability in Afghanistan. According to a statement issued by the ministry, a foreign affairs spokesman said: “We continue to closely follow the evolving situation in Afghanistan.” “We […]

On September 7, 2021, hundreds of Afghans – most of whom were women defying the Taliban jihadis patrolling public life in Afghanistan – turned out in the streets of Kabul chanting anti-Pakistan, anti-Taliban slogans. Some of the slogans raised by the protesters included: “Pakistan, Pakistan, Leave Afghanistan” and “Freedom, Freedom.”[1] The women protesters – chanting “Death to Pakistan,” “Allah-o-Akbar,” “Freedom,” […]

Recent developments in Afghanistan constitute a strategic gain for Pakistan, at least for the moment. In more than 40 years of civil strife, war and instability in Afghanistan, it would not be wrong to say that its neighbours have often pursued their own strategic interests by manipulating the Afghan political field, even at the expense of peace in the country. […]

The Pakistani prime minister says the international community has the responsibility to stand by the Afghans, support them economically and help rebuild the war-ravaged country. In separate telephone calls on Sunday, Imran Khan discussed the situation in Afghanistan with the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi and the emir Qatar. Khan highlighted the importance of a peaceful and […]

Three people were killed and 20 others wounded in a suicide attack on a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Sunday. The suicide bombing targeted a Frontier Constabulary check-post on the Mastung road in Quetta, the provincial capital, a senior police officer said. Azhar Akram, deputy inspector-general of Quetta police, told reporters 18 of the injured were security […]