Pak threatens to ‘obliterate’ Taliban after soured talks

Pakistan’s Defence Minister threatened on Wednesday to “obliterate” the ruling Taliban in the neighbouring Afghanistan, a dramatic escalation of rhetoric after the collapse of talks towards a lasting peace between the South Asian nations.

Truce negotiations concluded in Istanbul without a “workable solution”, Pakistan’s Information Minister said early on Wednesday, in a blow for peace in the region after this month’s deadly clashes. Pakistan reacted with fury to the failure of the talks, which sources said ended with a disagreement over militant groups allegedly using Afghanistan as a base to attack its security forces along their border.

“Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in a post on X.

Dozens were killed this month along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the worst such violence since the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021.

Both nations agreed to a ceasefire brokered in Doha on October 19, but could not find common ground in a second round of talks mediated by Turkey and Qatar in Istanbul, Afghan and Pakistani sources briefed on the issue had said. Each blamed the other for the failure.