Taliban Representative Says Pakistan Chooses Military Approach Amid Cross-Border Airstrikes

Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s Doha representative, has stated that Pakistan has opted for a military path and that there are no backchannel talks between the two sides in response to Pakistan’s airstrikes. In an interview with the Indian network NDTV, Shaheen said the Taliban administration seeks a peaceful resolution to the issues, but Pakistan has chosen to attack. He warned that this action “will be answered in their own language.” The Taliban representative also dismissed the Pakistan Army’s claim that it targeted Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as “baseless,” adding that such attacks cannot be justified under this pretext. Security tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan continue amid reports of clashes and airstrikes along the border in recent months. However, the Taliban’s increasingly threatening rhetoric has raised concerns about escalating tensions and the potential impact on residents of the border areas, which have previously experienced instability and insecurity.