Taliban say they are acting defensively in clashes with Pakistan

Responding to calls from clerics on a new ceasefire until the next Eid holiday in late May, Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the message is directed to Pakistan and that their forces are acting defensively in ongoing clashes with Pakistani forces.

Mujahid said in an audio message broadcast by Taliban-run state broadcaster, RTA, that Taliban forces had not initiated the conflict.

“We are not the ones who started the war,” he said, adding that the message was directed primarily at Pakistan. He also said Taliban forces do not “violate” Pakistani territory.

Mujahid said defending the population was the responsibility of Taliban forces and reiterated that they had not been the aggressors in the conflict.

The remarks come amid renewed tensions following the end of a ceasefire declared by both sides during the Eid al-Fitr holiday this month. Taliban have accused Pakistani forces of violating that truce, including through missile strikes in eastern Afghanistan that they said killed at least three civilians.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Taliban police command in Kunar province said that recent Pakistani strikes in the area had killed at least three civilians and wounded seven others. Pakistani officials have not publicly commented on those claims.

Religious scholars from Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday called for extending the cease-fire until Eid al-Adha, urging both sides in a joint letter to prioritize dialogue and efforts to secure peace.

The United Nations has said that in the first two weeks of the fighting, at least 76 civilians were killed and 193 others injured in eastern Afghanistan, with more than 110,000 people displaced.

The conflict has escalated since late February, with both sides accusing each other of responsibility for the violence and reporting significant casualties.