Pakistan PM tells UN Afghanistan’s soil is being used for attacks against his country

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the UN General Assembly that armed groups including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Balochistan Liberation Army are operating from Afghanistan and carrying out attacks aimed at destabilizing Pakistan.

Sharif, addressing the 81st session of the General Assembly in New York, called on Taliban authorities to take “verifiable, decisive action” to ensure Afghanistan’s territory is not used against Pakistan or other countries.

“Afghan territory continues to be exploited by the TTP … and the BLA … which operate from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan with the aim of destabilising Pakistan,” Sharif said, according to Pakistan’s state broadcaster. “All such attacks, including incursions from the territory of Afghanistan, must come to a grinding halt.”

The Taliban have not publicly responded to Sharif’s latest remarks. They have repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s accusations that armed groups are allowed to use Afghan territory for attacks across the border and have said they do not permit Afghanistan to be used against other countries.

International relations analyst Shafiqullah Saighani questioned the Taliban’s denials, saying they have not publicly designated the TTP as an extremist or terrorist group or issued a nationwide order explicitly prohibiting its members or other non-Afghan nationals from recruitment, training or armed activity inside Afghanistan.

“The Taliban are not sincere in saying they do not support extremist groups in the region such as the TTP,” Saighani told Amu TV. He said Taliban officials have largely relied on public denials of Pakistan’s allegations.

Tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban have sharply escalated over the past week. Following a deadly attack in Kohat that Islamabad linked to militants based in Afghanistan, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in several Afghan provinces, including Kunar, Paktika, Paktia, Khost and Kandahar, according to Pakistani statements and local reporting.

Political analyst Waris Saighani said continued Taliban support or shelter for armed groups opposed to Pakistan could prompt Islamabad to use a range of tools to try to change conditions inside Afghanistan.

“If the Taliban support and shelter armed opponents of the Pakistani government, then Pakistan can undoubtedly use different means to try to change the situation inside Afghanistan,” he told Amu TV.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of harboring the TTP and facilitating what Islamabad describes as an Indian-backed proxy campaign against Pakistan. The Taliban reject those claims.

The two sides have held several rounds of talks in Doha, Istanbul, Riyadh and Urumqi, but the negotiations have failed to produce a lasting agreement.

Since October 2025, Pakistan has carried out about 20 air attacks inside Afghanistan, according to figures compiled by Amu TV.

UNAMA has documented significant civilian harm from airstrikes and border clashes between the two sides. According to figures cited by Amu TV, such incidents between October 2025 and June 2026 left 499 people dead and 1,216 wounded.