Shehbaz Sharif: Cooperation with Afghanistan Depends on Action Against TTP

November 11, 2025 Current News Articles

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11 Nov 2025

Meanwhile, criticism of Pakistan’s policies is growing within the country.

A few days after the third round of talks between Kabul and Islamabad ended without results, officials from both countries continue to present proposals to resolve the issue.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that his country is ready to cooperate if the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan takes effective action against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups. He added that a stable Afghanistan is key to regional prosperity.

“Afghanistan must understand that supporting the TTP will not ensure peace, and if the Afghan government takes effective steps against the TTP and other groups, Pakistan is ready to cooperate,” Sharif said.

On the other side, Mohammad Naeem, Deputy Minister for Finance and Administration at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Kabul that the Pakistani delegation’s demands during the talks were “unrealistic and impractical,” which hindered progress.

He added that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan remains in contact with mediating countries and is ready to engage diplomatically whenever the Pakistani side approaches with rationality and goodwill.

Zia Ahmad Takal, Head of Public Relations at the Foreign Ministry, stated: “Blaming all of Pakistan’s security problems on Afghanistan suggests that certain circles within Pakistan’s military are not interested in finding negotiated solutions to bilateral issues.”

Meanwhile, criticism of Pakistan’s policies is growing within the country.

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, leader of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, accused the current Pakistani leadership of following in the footsteps of British colonial policies. He claimed Pakistan has three demands from Afghanistan:

Recognition of the hypothetical Durand Line
Acceptance of Pakistan’s influence over Kabul’s foreign policy
Governing Afghanistan’s central administration according to Islamabad’s directives

He criticized Pakistan’s rulers as “ignorant” and “incapable,” saying they lack the art of cooperation and coexistence.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif recently remarked that negotiations with Kabul cannot succeed and described his country as being in a state of war.

These developments come as hopes for the resumption of talks remain, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently announcing that a high-level delegation will be sent to Pakistan to help mediate the issues between Kabul and Islamabad.

Bomber targets Islamabad court, killing 12 people, as Pakistan condemns “cowardly suicide attack”

November 11, 2025 Current News Articles

CBS News

November 11, 2025

Islamabad, Pakistan — A suicide bombing outside district court buildings in a residential area of the Pakistani capital killed at least a dozen people on Tuesday, Pakistan’s interior minister said.

“At 12:39 p.m. (0239 Eastern), a suicide attack was carried out at the Kachehri (district courts) … so far 12 people have been martyred and around 27 are wounded,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters at the scene of the incident.

“As I entered the court building, a huge blast occurred. I thought the entire judiciary building would collapse on me,” Zahid Khan, who works as an assistant to a lawyer at the court, told CBS News’ Sami Yousafzai. “When I went upstairs, I saw people lying on the ground around the fire … Just three minutes earlier, I had been at that exact spot while parking my bike.”

“I saw many people lying injured, with blood on the road,” he said.

He noted the timing of the attack, coming a week after the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, along with some elements of the Afghan Taliban issued threats against Pakistani cities.Pakistani later issued a statement, saying te government “strongly condemns the cowardly suicide attack in Islamabad that claimed 12 innocent lives, including members of the judiciary.”

“The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for this reprehensible act, aimed at spreading fear and undermining Pakistan’s justice system,” the statement said.

The alleged suicide attack in Islamabad also came a day after militants stormed a military college in Wana, in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region. Two militants were killed in the assault, officials said.

The TTP, in statements shared with CBS News, denied involvement in both the Islamabad and Wana attacks, but Pakistani security officials and analysts said the group was likely responsible for both.

Last week, a TTP source told CBS News the group considers its campaign against Pakistan’s government a “holy struggle,” and they warned that it has “human and technical resources in all major cities” — and plans to stage new, large-scale attacks.

The attacker tried on Tuesday to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists. He alleged that the attack was “carried out by Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies” linked to the TTP, but he said authorities were “looking into all aspects” of the explosion.

In a statement issued later Tuesday, Indian government spokesperson Shri Randhir Jaiswal said the country “unequivocally rejects the baseless and unfounded allegations” by Pakistan, calling it “a predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India.”

Pakistan’s Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif blamed Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers for allowing the attack to take place on Tuesday. The neighbors have long had tense relations, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of allowing the TTP to operate within Afghanistan’s borders.

“Kabul’s rulers can stop terrorism in Pakistan, but today’s suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts proves this is a nationwide war,” Asif said in a statement Tuesday. “Anyone who believes the Pakistan Army is only fighting on the Afghan-Pakistan border and in remote Balochistan should take this attack as a wake-up call. This is a war for all of Pakistan.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan held two rounds of talks aimed at addressing mutual security concerns in October and earlier this month, but both ended without any solid agreement between the neighbors, and Asif said in his statement after the Tuesday explosion in Islamabad that, “in this environment, it would be futile to place greater hope in successful negotiations with the rulers in Kabul.”

One member of the Afghan Taliban’s negotiating team told CBS News on Tuesday that the talks had failed due to Pakistan’s unrealistic demands for the Taliban to restrain the TTP.

“It was far beyond our control and capacity,” the Afghan Taliban official said, accusing Pakistan of failing to effectively counter the TTP itself.

The Islamabad explosion also came a day after a large blast rocked the Red Fort, a major tourist destination in neighboring India’s capital city New Delhi.

That explosion killed eight people, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that the “conspirators” behind the blast “will not be spared,” vowing that “all those responsible will be brought to justice.”

Pakistan and India are nuclear armed neighbors that have clashed often, usually over the disputed Kashmir border region. Dozens of people were killed in May when India launched military strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and deep inside Pakistan, saying it was targeting militants in the country that had carried out multiple attacks on India.

Sami Yousafzai contributed to this report.

Pak Taliban group claims Islamabad bombing, Sharif blames India & Afghanistan

November 11, 2025 Current News Articles

By HT News Desk

Nov 11, 2025

Attack on Tuesday killed 12 at Pak capital’s G-11 judicial complex. Sharif said such attacks “cannot not shake Pakistan’s resolve to root out terrorism”

Even after the terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that 12 people in Islamabad on Tuesday, Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif has sought to pin it on India.

He condemned the perpetrators, calling them “Indian-sponsored terrorist proxies”. “These attacks are a continuation of India’s state-sponsored terrorism aimed at destabilizing Pakistan,” he added, as per a report by his country’s news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

India has not reacted yet to the allegations, as of 7:30 pm, November 11, but has in the past rubbished such assertions by Pakistan’a.

Sharif, without citing evidence, also claimed the same network operating from Afghan territory had attacked children in Wana. He was referring to the Monday attack outside a Cadet College in Wana, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering Afghanistan in which three people died. According to security officials, this attack too was carried out by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Addressing the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference in Islamabad, Shehbaz Sharif said, “Afghanistan must understand that lasting peace can only be realised by reining in TTP and other terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory.”

Afghans call for Taliban government to help repair Blue Mosque after quake

November 9, 2025 Current News Articles

By Sayed Hassib

Reuters

November 5, 2025

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Some residents in northern Afghanistan called on Wednesday for the Taliban government to help rebuild and restore a historic mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif that was damaged in a powerful earthquake.

Monday’s magnitude 6.3 quake struck near the city, killing at least 27 people, injuring almost 1,000 and destroying hundreds of houses, weeks before the onset of Afghanistan’s harsh winter.

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The Hazrat Ali Shrine, also known as the Blue Mosque, is considered one of the holiest sites in Afghanistan and is believed to be the burial site of the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad.

TILES BROKE OFF, MINARETS CRACKED

The current structure, with its vibrant blue tiles and intricate mosaics, was built in the 15th century.

It suffered visible damage following the quake, with tiles broken off and cracked minarets, a Reuters team that visited the site on Wednesday said.

Sayed Mohammad Hussain, a university lecturer in Mazar-i-Sharif, said the mosque was one of the city’s preeminent historical symbols and a popular local attraction.

“Considering the parts that have been damaged, we call for serious attention from… the government to help rebuild and restore it,” he said.

The mosque had suffered “serious damage”, said Sayed Bashir Rasaa, another local resident.

“In my 55 years of life, I have never seen such an earthquake,” he said.

No repair work has begun and the mosque remains open to the public although the Taliban has pledged to begin repairs.

“The Ministry’s technical team will soon take the necessary steps to assess the extent of the damage and begin restoration efforts,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Information and Culture said after the quake.

The hardline Taliban outraged the world in 2001 when it last ruled Afghanistan by ordering the destruction of two giant Buddhist statues known as the Buddhas of Bamiyan, calling them idolatrous.

Since returning to power in 2021, it has said it takes cultural preservation seriously and has pledged to restore sites including at Bamiyan.

The cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley remain on the U.N. culture and education agency UNESCO’s list of endangered World Heritage monuments.

Kabul Determined to Continue Confrontation, Says Former Pakistani Envoy after Istanbul Talks Collapse

November 8, 2025 Current News Articles

By Fidel Rahmati

Khaama Press

November 8, 2025

Former Pakistani envoy Asif Durrani said the Istanbul talks collapsed, warning Kabul appears intent on prolonging confrontation and diplomatic deadlock with Islamabad.

Islamabad’s former envoy on Afghanistan affairs, Asif Durrani, has said the deadlock in negotiations in Istanbul suggests that the Taliban regime is determined to continue confrontation with Pakistan, and that the Pakistani team has since left the venue.

Durrani wrote on the X platform on Friday that if negotiations remain stalled, the border may remain sealed, trade suspended and travellers restricted — a scenario that risks harming ordinary citizens.

Pakistan has long accused Kabul of harbouring Tehrik‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters who mount cross-border attacks; Durrani claims the Taliban delegation in Istanbul explicitly refused to address the TTP issue.

In the talks mediated by Istanbul under the aegis of Doha-brokered ceasefire mechanisms, Pakistan handed over “evidence-based” demands to Turkey and Qatar, but the Afghan side rejected signing written commitments, insisting on verbal assurances only.

The Taliban refused the allegations and stated that Afghanistan does not provide safe havens for militants, and that Islamabad must respect Afghanistan sovereignty. A Taliban spokesman claimed Pakistani forces fired into Afghanistan territory on the day talks resumed in Istanbul, but Taliban forces held back “out of respect” for the dialogue.

The breakdown of the Istanbul process underscores the absence of trust between Islamabad and Kabul, especially over verification, documentation and accountability of militant cross-border activity. Without written guarantees, Pakistan’s patience appears exhausted, and regions along the frontier may see further disruption of trade and civilian movement.

For the broader region, the failure raises the risk of renewed military flare-ups. Diplomatic channels now face a tougher task; either reconvene with a stronger framework and enforce mapping of militant routes or witness a slide back into violence that could derail the fragile cease-fire.

UNAMA Head: Afghanistan Must Honor Its International Obligations

November 8, 2025 Current News Articles

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TV Network

7 Nov 2025

Istanbul Talks Enter Second Day Behind Closed Doors

November 8, 2025 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

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7 Nov 2025

Pakistan says Afghanistan talks deadlocked after deadly border clashes

November 8, 2025 Current News Articles

Al Jazeera

Afghan official says four Afghan civilians were killed and five others wounded in border clashes.

Talks in Istanbul between Pakistan and Afghanistan are at a deadlock, Islamabad said, a day after both sides accused each other of mounting border clashes that risked breaching a ceasefire brokered by Qatar.

The update on the talks by Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Friday came after an Afghan official said four Afghan civilians were killed and five others wounded in clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces along their shared border despite the joint negotiations.

There was no immediate comment from Kabul about the Pakistani claim.

In a statement thanking Turkiye and Qatar for mediating the talks, Tarar maintained that the Afghan Taliban has failed to meet pledges it made with the international community about curbing “terrorism” under a 2021 Doha peace accord.

Tarar said that Pakistan “will not support any steps by the Taliban government that are not in the interest of the Afghan people or neighboring countries.” He did not elaborate further, but added that Islamabad continues to seek peace and goodwill for Afghans but will take “all necessary measures” to protect its own people and sovereignty.

Ali Mohammad Haqmal, head of the Information and Culture Department in Spin Boldak, blamed Pakistan for initiating the shooting. However, he said Afghan forces did not respond amid ongoing peace talks between the two sides in Istanbul.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Afghanistan initiated the shooting.

“Pakistan remains committed to ongoing dialogue and expects reciprocity from Afghan authorities”, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said.

The ministry said the ceasefire remained intact.

Andrabi said Pakistan’s national security adviser, Asim Malik, is leading the Pakistani delegation in the talks with Afghanistan. The Afghan side is being led by Abdul Haq Wasiq, director of general intelligence, according to Mujahid.

He said that Pakistan had handed over its demands to mediators “with a singular aim to put an end to cross-border terrorism,” and that “mediators are discussing Pakistan’s demands with the Afghan Taliban delegation, point by point.”

Strained Ties

Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring armed groups, particularly the Pakistan Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP), which regularly claims deadly attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban deny sheltering the group.

Many Pakistan Taliban leaders and fighters are believed to have taken refuge in Afghanistan since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in 2021, further straining ties between the two countries.

Turkiye said at the conclusion of last week’s talks that the parties had agreed to establish a monitoring and verification mechanism to maintain peace and penalise violators.

Fifty civilians were killed and 447 others wounded on the Afghan side of the border during clashes that began on October 9, according to the United Nations. At least five people died in explosions in Kabul that the Taliban government blamed on Pakistan.

The Pakistani army reported 23 of its soldiers were killed and 29 others wounded, without mentioning civilian casualties.

Afghan opium crop plummets after Taliban ban – UN report

November 7, 2025 Current News Articles

Bethany Bell Role, Yogita Limaye Role

BBC News

6 November 2025

Opium farming in Afghanistan has dropped significantly following a ban imposed by the Taliban government in 2022, the United Nations said.

The total area of land for growing opium poppy shrank 20% since last year, while the amount of opium has fallen by 32% over the same period, the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime said in a survey.

Afghanistan used to produce more than 80% of the world’s opium, with heroin made from Afghan opium making up 95% of the market in Europe.

But after retaking power the Taliban banned the practice in April 2022, saying opium was harmful and went against their religious beliefs. The UN said most farmers continued to observe the ban despite “severe economic challenges”.

Many Afghan farmers are harvesting cereals, but poppy – from which opium, the key ingredient for the drug heroin can be extracted – continues to be “far more profitable” than legitimate crops, the UNODC noted.

Over 40% of available farmland has remained fallow because of the lack of profitable alternatives, limited agricultural outputs and, adverse climate conditions it added.

The total area under opium poppy cultivation this year was estimated at 10,200 hectares, mostly in the north-east of the country, with Badakhshan province accounting for the largest share. Before the 2022 ban, more than 200,000 hectares were under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

Four provinces with opium poppy cultivation in 2024 (Balkh, Farah, Laghman, Uruzgan) were declared opium poppy-free in 2025.

“The near elimination of cultivation from traditional strongholds illustrates the scale and durability of the ban on opium poppy cultivation,” the survey said.

The Taliban’s efforts to destroy opium fields occasionally sparked violent resistance from the farmers, particularly in the north-east, the UNODC said, noting that casualties were reported during clashes in several districts of Badakhshan.

But the vast majority of Afghan farmers adhere to the ban issued by the Taliban’s supreme leader.

However, farmers say they lack support to grow alternative crops – as a result, they have to choose between poverty or punishment.

“If we violate the ban, we face prison. If we comply, we face destitution,” one unnamed farmer in Helmand province told BBC Pashto this summer.

“If there’s no money, then I’ll grow poppies again.”

Poppy fields are no longer openly visible in Helmand, but they do still exist.

Another farmer showed BBC Pashto around his small walled-off poppy field in front of his house in a remote village. He’s risking jail, but he said he had no option.

“What should I do? I’m forced to do this – I have nothing else. I can’t even provide food for my family.”

While opium is in decline, trafficking in synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine have risen since the ban, the UNODC said.

Seizures of such drugs in and around Afghanistan was 50% higher in late 2024 compared with the previous year.

Organised crime groups favour synthetic drugs which are easier to produce and less vulnerable to climate shocks, the UNODC said.

Additional reporting by BBC Afghan’s Yama Bariz

Afghanistan earthquake survivors spend the night in the open; the quake damaged historical sites

November 5, 2025 Current News Articles

By ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN

Associated Press

Updated 10:59 AM EST, November 4, 2025

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Survivors of a powerful earthquake in northern Afghanistan that killed more than 25 people and injured nearly 1,000 were digging through the rubble of their homes Tuesday, trying to salvage what belongings they could after spending the night outside in the bitter cold.

Rain was forecast for the region, further compounding the misery for survivors.

The 6.3 magnitude quake struck just before 1 a.m. local time Monday, with an epicenter 22 kilometers (14 miles) west-southwest of the town of Khulm in Samangan province. By early Tuesday afternoon, the death stood at 27, while another 956 people were injured, Public Health Ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement.

The tremor also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan’s famed Blue Mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, which is one of Afghanistan’s most revered religious landmarks, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.

The Blue Mosque’s minaret was badly damaged, while some bricks and tiles had fallen from some of the mosque’s walls and cracks appeared in other parts of the centuries-old site, said Mahmoodullah Zarar, Head of Information and Culture of Balkh Province.

“The Holy Shrine is a valuable monument of Islamic values and the history of the Islamic era … (and) is in dire need of repair and restoration,” he said, adding that information on the damage had been shared with the ministry of art and culture.

Video footage from the mosque, which is a major gathering place during Islamic and cultural festivals, showed structural damage to parts of the mosque, while brickwork and the decorative tiles that adorn its facade had crumbled in several places and laid strewn on the ground.

The most severely damaged historical monument in the province was the 19th century Bagh-e Jehan Nama Palace, said Firozuddin Munib, Samangan province’s Head of Information and Culture. The palace, built in 1890-1892, and its adjoining gardens are a popular site for visitors.

“The restoration of this palace is very important because winter is coming and the area is cold, and it is raining, which may cause further damage,” Munib said, adding that the quake caused a surrounding wall and one tower to collapse and also led to cracks in the palace and other towers.

In Khulm, aftershocks rattled survivors, who spent the night out in the open.

“People are still scared because of last night’s earthquake because small tremors were felt during the day,” said local resident Asadullah Samangani. “We spent the night in the open ground last night, the weather was very cold, we couldn’t sleep, we feel like there will be another earthquake now.”

He said authorities had sent tents and basic necessities, but that his home was “completely destroyed, nothing was left intact to use. Our children were all sick in the morning because we had spent the night in the cold, and all the household items were under the rubble.

“People from other areas came to help, but our belongings are still under rubble and damaged. Our women are facing great difficulties, we do not have a toilet and we do not have a place where our women can spend the night.”

Rescue crews were still operating in some areas on Tuesday, and were expected to finish by the end of the day.

The World Health Organization said partial damage had been reported in several health facilities, while the laboratory at the Samangan Provincial Hospital had collapsed, destroying critical medical equipment. Emergency response operations with health teams and rescue units were ongoing, it said.

Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Buildings tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood, many poorly built.

In August, a quake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people.

CBS News

November 11, 2025

Islamabad, Pakistan — A suicide bombing outside district court buildings in a residential area of the Pakistani capital killed at least a dozen people on Tuesday, Pakistan’s interior minister said.

By HT News Desk

TILES BROKE OFF, MINARETS CRACKED

Strained Ties

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