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Pakistan’s Defense Minister on Wednesday threatened to “eliminate” the Taliban, which controls Afghanistan, after talks on a permanent settlement between the two sides failed.
Peace talks are threatened in Istanbul, Turkey, without “an effective solution, according to Pakistan’s Information Minister Tataullah Tarar, which comes after deadly clashes this month. Most were killed on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the worst violence in the area since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.
The talks ended in a stand-off over terrorist groups allegedly using Afghanistan as a base to attack security forces along the Pakistani border.
“Pakistan does not need to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely eliminate the Taliban regime and push them back into hiding caves,” Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told X.
Pakistan and the Taliban agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire after renewed fighting left dozens dead
An Afghan Taliban Fighter sits on a tank near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldyak, Kandahar Province, after an exchange of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces in Afghanistan on October 15, 2025. (Reuters)
The two countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha, Qatar, on October 19, but could not find a common ground in the second round of talks held by Turkey and Qatar in Istanbul, according to Reuters.
Both countries blamed each other for the divisive statements.
“The Afghan side always appears in the main issue … where the dialogue process was established,” said the Minister of Dialogue, “said the Minister of Information in Pakistan on Wednesday, who accused the Taliban of involvement in the diversion, RESE”
“Negotiations therefore failed to bring about any viable solution,” he said.
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Taliban Security personnel walk around a damaged vehicle in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on October 16, 2025, a day after border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Pet Pictures)
A security source in Pakistan told RETERS that the Taliban did not want to agree to strengthen the Pakistani Taliban, a separate group that Pakistan says operates without consequences from inside Afghanistan.
An Afghan source familiar with the talks told the Outlet that the talks ended after “an exchange of time” on the issue, noting that Afghanistan said it had no control over the Pakistani Taliban.
The Pakistani Taliban have launched attacks on the Pakistani military in recent weeks.
The conflict began earlier this month after Pakistani airstrikes targeted the head of the Pakistani Taliban in Kabul and other areas.
Taliban security personnel stand on the side of the road near the Ghulam Khan zero-point border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Gursuz district southeast of Khost 20, 2025. (Pet Pictures)
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The Taliban retaliated with attacks on Pakistani military posts and along the 1,600-mile border that remains closed.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister said on Saturday that he believed Afghanistan wanted peace but failure to reach an agreement in Istanbul could mean “open war.”
And despite the cessation of fire between Pakistan and the Taliban, clashes over the weekend led to the death of five Pakistani soldiers and 25 members of the Pakistan Taliban near the border with Afghanistan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
