PESHAWAR: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Thursday reiterated that while Pakistan seeks peaceful relations with all its neighbours, including Afghanistan, it will never allow terrorism to be carried out from Afghan soil.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army chief made these remarks during his visit to Peshawar, where he met a jirga of tribal elders and later received a detailed briefing at Headquarters 11 Corps on the prevailing security situation, operational readiness, and ongoing counterterrorism operations along the Pak-Afghan border.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks amid border tensions and mutual accusations. Islamabad has repeatedly warned Kabul against allowing the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from its territory — a claim the Afghan Taliban deny. Although talks were initiated in Turkiye to establish a monitoring mechanism against cross-border attacks, the dialogue remains deadlocked.
While addressing the jirga, Field Marshal Munir said that despite persistent cross-border terrorism, Pakistan had shown restraint and made repeated diplomatic and economic efforts to improve ties with Afghanistan.
“However, instead of acting decisively against Indian-sponsored terror proxies Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan, the Afghan Taliban regime has been extending full support to these groups,” the ISPR quoted him as saying.
The military statement explained that “Fitna al-Khawarij” refers to TTP militants, while “Fitna al-Hindustan” describes Balochistan-based terrorist groups allegedly backed by India to destabilize Pakistan.
During the interaction, the army chief assured the tribal elders that Pakistan, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, would be completely purged of terrorists and their facilitators. He also praised the courage and sacrifices of the tribal people in the country’s long fight against terrorism.
Field Marshal Munir expressed gratitude for the “steadfast and unconditional support” of the tribal population during the recent standoff between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. The tribal elders, in turn, reaffirmed their full backing of the armed forces and their commitment to peace, rejecting the extremist ideology of Fitna al-Khawarij as alien to their traditions.
