Taliban says it will not tolerate invasions from neighbours

After the airstrikes killed dozens of Afghan citizens in Kunar and Khost provinces, Afghanistan's acting defence minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob said that the Taliban administration will not tolerate invasions from its neighbours. The Afghan government has alleged that the airstrikes were conducted by Pakistan.

He said Afghanistan cannot tolerate invasion. We have tolerated that attack because of national interests. Next time, we might not tolerate it. The Taliban foreign ministry had reached out to Pakistan's ambassador last week to protest against the airstrikes.

Islamabad has not confirmed any involvement in the airstrikes and insists that Pakistan and Afghanistan are "brotherly countries''. Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson responded to Yaqoob's comments saying Pakistan hoped for long-term engagement with Afghanistan to secure peace, reported Reuters.

The Afghan defence minister said that the country is facing problems and challenges from both the world and our neighbors. "A clear example is invasion by them in our territory in Kunar." He was speaking at a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the death of his father, Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The Pak spokesperson insisted that the governments and people of both countries regard terrorism as a serious threat and have suffered from this scourge for a long time. He added that it is important that Afghanistan and Pakistan engage in a meaningful manner through relevant institutional channels to cooperate in countering cross-border terrorism.

Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has seen several attacks and numerous standoffs along the 2,600-km (1,615-mile) border with Pakistan. The border in question was drawn by the British colonisers and Kabul does not accept it.