Pakistan Cannot Tolerate A Peaceful Afghanistan, Says Taliban Official

According to the ministry, Haqqani also visited areas of Samkani district damaged in the Pakistani strikes.

Pakistani airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan two weeks ago killed dozens of people. The attacks prompted a strong response from the Taliban, although India was the only country to publicly condemn them.

The Taliban described the strikes as a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty. Pakistan said the operation targeted armed groups opposed to the Pakistani government that it alleges operate from Afghan territory.

The Taliban’s Interior Ministry said families affected by the strikes urged Haqqani to ensure that those wounded in the attacks who remain in hospital receive proper care and attention.

On 29 June, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Afghanistan International that at least 36 civilians had been killed and 163 others wounded in Pakistani attacks on three Afghan provinces. He said women and children were among the casualties.

According to Mujahid, the highest number of casualties was recorded in Samkani district of Paktia province.

However, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that 13 civilians were killed and 10 others injured in the attacks. UNAMA said women and children were among the victims.

The Pakistani strikes followed remarks by Taliban Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, who said after returning from a security conference in Moscow that Pakistan would “no longer dare” to attack Afghan territory in the near future.

Despite several rounds of talks between the Taliban and Pakistan, mediated by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye and China, the two sides have yet to reach an agreement on reducing tensions and resolving their disputes.

According to the witnesses, British soldiers placed Afghan detainees on forklifts, raised them into the air and drove at speed so they would fall off for entertainment.

The inquiry, established by the UK Ministry of Defence, is examining allegations of war crimes committed by British special forces in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, as well as subsequent attempts to conceal the alleged offences.

Monica Grenfell, who worked as a kitchen assistant and storekeeper alongside British special forces, told the inquiry that soldiers threw detainees from forklifts for amusement.

She said she remembered one soldier proudly describing how detainees were placed on a forklift, lifted into the air and then dropped by driving the vehicle quickly.

Grenfell compared the atmosphere within the unit to one in which soldiers had been “let off the leash”, adding that she felt there was no meaningful oversight of their conduct.

Christopher Green, a former British Army reservist who served between January and September 2012, was the second whistleblower to give evidence. He spoke about the killing of three farmer brothers in a village in Helmand province.

Green said his unit’s intelligence team was certain the three brothers were ordinary farmers and that there was no evidence they were Taliban commanders.

He added that when he tried to raise concerns about the killings with a liaison officer, he was met with hostility and accused of supporting the Taliban. He also said he was denied access to video footage of the operation.

According to Green, after the brothers were killed, the British government paid their mother £3,634 in financial assistance, which he said amounted to an acknowledgement that innocent civilians had been killed.

Responding to the allegations, a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defence said the government remained fully committed to supporting the independent Afghanistan Inquiry and thanked all current and former defence personnel who had provided evidence.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Fitrat described the Pakistani government as brutal and said: “It is deeply painful that Pakistan bombs civilians’ homes under the pretext of the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).”

He also claimed that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups opposed to Pakistan were not present in Afghanistan, adding that the Taliban did not allow any armed group to operate from Afghan territory.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of sheltering and supporting the TTP, an allegation the Taliban has consistently denied. Taliban officials say Islamabad should address its security challenges within its own borders rather than blaming Afghanistan for TTP attacks.

In recent months, as tensions between the two sides have escalated, Pakistan has carried out several air strikes along the border and inside Afghan territory. The United Nations has confirmed that dozens of civilians were killed in some of those attacks.

Pakistan says the strikes were precise and targeted, aimed at TTP hideouts and other armed groups hostile to the country.

Following the strikes, the Taliban has repeatedly claimed to have responded. In recent months, it has said it used drones to target Pakistani military positions. Pakistan’s military has acknowledged that drones entered its airspace from Afghanistan on some occasions but has not reported any casualties or damage resulting from the alleged attacks.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Fitrat described the Pakistani government as brutal and said: “It is deeply painful that Pakistan bombs civilians’ homes under the pretext of the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).”

He also claimed that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups opposed to Pakistan were not present in Afghanistan, adding that the Taliban did not allow any armed group to operate from Afghan territory.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban of sheltering and supporting the TTP, an allegation the Taliban has consistently denied. Taliban officials say Islamabad should address its security challenges within its own borders rather than blaming Afghanistan for TTP attacks.

In recent months, as tensions between the two sides have escalated, Pakistan has carried out several air strikes along the border and inside Afghan territory. The United Nations has confirmed that dozens of civilians were killed in some of those attacks.

Pakistan says the strikes were precise and targeted, aimed at TTP hideouts and other armed groups hostile to the country.

Following the strikes, the Taliban has repeatedly claimed to have responded. In recent months, it has said it used drones to target Pakistani military positions. Pakistan’s military has acknowledged that drones entered its airspace from Afghanistan on some occasions but has not reported any casualties or damage resulting from the alleged attacks.

Hanafi said malicious groups were targeting the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice because of what he described as its enforcement of Islamic law.

In mid-June, the ministry’s morality police launched an operation in Herat to detain women accused of failing to comply with the Taliban’s dress code. After dozens of women were detained, residents of the Jebrail area of Herat took to the streets on 9 June to protest the arrests.

The Taliban suppressed the demonstrations, and at least two teenage boys were killed. Following the protests, the group also launched a widespread campaign of arrests against demonstrators.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also confirmed the arrests of women in Herat. In a statement, it said the Taliban had detained at least 30 women on 27 and 28 May for allegedly failing to comply with the hijab requirement and had verbally threatened hundreds more.

The arrests drew widespread condemnation from human rights organisations and international bodies both inside and outside Afghanistan.

On Monday, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice published further excerpts from Hanafi’s speech in Herat.

In one part of his remarks, Hanafi said the media should be used as a platform under the current circumstances and urged media managers to apply the ministry’s morality law themselves before promoting it through their outlets.

The Taliban minister also claimed that human rights in Afghanistan were protected in accordance with Islamic principles. He said the international community should instead focus on countries where, according to him, human rights were being violated and people were deprived of even the most basic rights, including the right to life.

Downplaying the arrests of women and girls in Herat, Hanafi questioned why the deliberate killing of thousands of women and children elsewhere received less attention than the enforcement of the Taliban’s hijab rules. He claimed the issue of hijab was being distorted and exploited for political purposes.