Govt rubbishes Afghan Taliban’s ‘frivolous’ claim of Pakistan violating truce

The information ministry on Friday rubbished the Afghan Taliban’s claim of Pakistan violating the temporary pause in fighting, terming the allegation “frivolous”. In a post on X, the ministry said, “The claim of so-called Ministry of Defence/spokesperson of Taliban regime that Pakistan has violated the temporary pause — initiated itself by Pakistan in view of Eidul Fitr — is frivolous. “No violation of the temporary pause has taken place along the western border by Pakistan and all such claims are absolutely false,” the statement on the “fact check” asserted. “Such propaganda may probably be initiated by detractors within Taliban regime, aimed at creating false pretext for some Afghan Taliban regime-directed terrorism or other action,” it contended. The ministry stressed that irrespective of who has initiated the propaganda and false claims, “Pakistan has already declared it clearly that any act of terrorism, cross-border attack, drone attack, etc by Afghan Taliban regime and its proxies will result [in] forthwith termination of the temporary pause and immediate resumption of Operation Ghazab lil-Haq with renewed intensity.”

The ministry’s “fact checker” account also shared a statement issued by the Afghan defence ministry, accusing Pakistan of violating the ceasefire on the “first day of Eid”, which Kabul marked on Thursday. Operation Ghazab lil-Haq was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. Islamabad on Wednesday announced that Pakistan had decided on a five-day “temporary pause” in the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban in view of Eidul Fitr and at the “request of brotherly Islamic countries”. Kabul had followed suit, with the Afghan Taliban hours later declaring a temporary suspension of their military operations against Pakistan. Both sides’ statements had mentioned de-escalation requests from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye as part of the reasons behind the decision. In his statement, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had warned that “in case of any cross-border attack, drone attack or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, Operation Ghazab lil-Haq shall immediately resume with renewed intensity”.