Militants Cross From Afghanistan To Kill Pakistanis, Says PM Sharif

The newspaper cited a Pakistani intelligence official, a former national security official briefed on the meetings, and a senior Afghan member of an armed anti-Taliban group as saying that Pakistani military and intelligence officials had held talks with those groups.

Ibraheem Bahiss, an Afghanistan analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan could become more complicated and unpredictable as both sides increasingly turn to proxy groups.

He said confrontation between proxy forces was growing and described it as a dangerous stage in the crisis.

The conflict between the Taliban and Pakistan escalated in late February 2026, when Pakistan declared an open war against the Taliban.

According to The New York Times, the fighting disrupted months of peace efforts and has killed or wounded at least 1,100 Afghan civilians.

Pakistan accuses armed groups based in Afghanistan of crossing the border and attacking Pakistani security forces.

The report said Pakistani security officials and experts link the increase in such attacks since 2021 to what they describe as a permissive environment provided to militants by the Afghan Taliban.

According to the report, thousands of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan fighters cross the Durand Line to attack Pakistani security forces.

The Taliban has denied allegations that it supports militant attacks inside Pakistan.

The New York Times reported that China, Russia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have attempted to mediate between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but those efforts have so far produced no clear result in ending the conflict.

China hosted talks between the two sides in April, but the negotiations ended without an agreement.

A meeting on Afghanistan’s security involving 10 regional countries in Moscow on 5 October also ended without a joint statement because of disagreements between the Afghan and Pakistani delegations.

Bahiss said both sides were so firmly committed to their positions that no outside actor, including China, appeared able to pressure them into changing course.

The Pakistani government says it will not hold talks with the Taliban unless the group commits to ending its support for armed organisations.

Aarish Khan, head of the Afghanistan programme at a state-funded research centre in Islamabad, said Pakistani military and political leaders currently view military action as the only remaining option.

However, he warned that such an approach could encourage the Taliban to provide even greater support to armed groups attacking Pakistan.

He said Pakistan’s current approach may reflect accumulated frustration rather than a long-term strategy, adding that such frustration would not be sustainable over time.

According to the report, civilians on both sides of the border are facing severe hardship as a result of the conflict.

The report describes declining participation in higher education as one sign of a worsening education crisis in Afghanistan. It also points to the complete exclusion of women from universities, falling participation among boys in secondary schools and a sharp drop in university entrance exam applicants.

The report, titled “The Afghanistan Education Situation Report 2026” and published on 20 October, shows that the number of university entrance exams applicants fell from 210,000 in 2020 to about 84,000 in 2023.

Although the figure rose to around 118,000 in 2026, it remains well below the level recorded before the Taliban returned to power.

According to the report, the number of students admitted to universities also fell, from about 81,000 in 2020 to 74,500 in 2026.

However, the university admission rate increased from around 39 per cent in 2020 to 63 per cent in 2026, which the report says indicates that competition for university places has declined.

The report also highlights a fall in the number of male university students, from about 306,000 in 2019 to around 208,000 in 2026.

The decline comes as Afghan universities have faced financial difficulties and falling numbers of applicants following the exclusion of female students.

The report also says girls have been completely excluded from the university entrance exam process.

Around 80,000 girls took the university entrance exam in 2020, while more than 81,000 female candidates participated in 2021.

UNESCO and UNICEF also say more than 2.6 million Afghan girls have been denied secondary education since secondary and high schools were closed to girls in 2021.

The two UN agencies warned that the continued restrictions have not only eliminated girls’ pathways to university but also show that, contrary to common perceptions, the education crisis is not affecting girls alone.

The report says boys’ participation is also declining, with enrolment rates falling at both lower and upper secondary levels.

According to UNESCO and UNICEF, the trend shows that the pathway from school to university and then to the labour market is becoming increasingly restricted for a large share of Afghanistan’s young people.

The report also points to a weakening of university academic staff.

The number of university professors and lecturers fell from around 18,900 in 2019 to about 12,700 in 2025. The number of female academics dropped from around 2,600 to just over 100.

UNESCO and UNICEF concluded that Afghanistan’s education system is facing several overlapping crises, including the exclusion of millions of girls from education, the removal of women from universities, declining participation among boys, fewer Kankor applicants, falling student numbers and a shrinking academic workforce.

The agencies warned that without sustained investment and the removal of education restrictions, the capacity of Afghanistan’s education system will continue to weaken.

According to a statement from Liccardo’s office, the move is intended to bring the bill to a vote. If approved, it could restore Temporary Protected Status and prevent the affected Afghans from being deported.

The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee this summer and has remained there without a hearing or further progress.

Republican House leaders have so far not allowed the bill to leave committee and come to a vote.

Liccardo plans to file a discharge petition in an effort to bypass the Republican leadership.

Under normal procedures, House leaders, including the Speaker and committee chairs, decide which bills are brought to the floor for a vote.

If the leadership opposes a bill, it can keep it in committee and prevent the full House from voting on it.

Under US House rules, a discharge petition can force a bill to the floor without leadership approval if it secures at least 218 signatures.

More than 8,000 Afghans living in the United States had been allowed to remain legally under Temporary Protected Status, but the Trump administration ended that protection in 2025, leaving them at risk of deportation.

The bill to restore temporary protection for Afghans was introduced by Liccardo together with Democrats Jason Crow and Republicans Don Bacon and María Elvira Salazar.

Liccardo said in his statement: “Regardless of political differences, we ought to be able to agree on the critical importance of keeping our promises as a country”. He added: “America promised thousands of Afghans who risked their lives as interpreters, as informants, as other support roles to our military; they risked their lives with the expectation that we would not betray them and put them in harm’s way for doing so”.

Liccardo described the support of five Republican lawmakers as a positive sign and said he hoped more Republicans, particularly military veterans who served in Afghanistan, would back the bill after the midterm elections.

During the seven-day exercise, mountain troops, reconnaissance and combat drones, and military helicopters from the two countries will practise scenarios involving the detection and destruction of illegal armed groups in border areas.

Russian troops, together with military and specialised equipment, travelled more than 300 kilometres through mountainous areas of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan before deploying to the Termez training ground.

After arriving at the exercise site, Russian forces began technical preparations, equipment maintenance and preparations for the active phase of the drills.

According to the announced schedule, the joint exercise will run from 20 to 27 October at the Termez military training ground near the Afghan border.

The main aim of the drills is to improve coordination between the two countries’ forces in detecting and destroying small illegal armed groups in border regions.

The Termez military training ground is considered one of Central Asia’s most important border locations and has drawn increased attention from the two countries’ security forces in recent years because of its proximity to unstable areas in northern Afghanistan.

Russian officials have repeatedly warned of potential threats from terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan and the risk that they could infiltrate neighbouring countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned only days ago that terrorist groups maintain a significant number of training camps in areas of Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Security analysts say such exercises are particularly significant amid continuing regional concerns over Afghanistan’s security situation and the activities of terrorist groups.

Training for armed infiltration scenarios and the use of modern equipment reflects efforts by Moscow and Tashkent to strengthen operational preparedness against cross-border threats.

The exercises will involve reconnaissance and combat drones, ground-based robotic systems and Mi-24 attack helicopters.

The equipment will allow participating forces to practise reconnaissance and target-destruction operations more precisely in conditions resembling the mountainous and border areas of Afghanistan.

The 25th meeting of heads of government of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states is being held on Tuesday in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe. The Taliban is not attending the meeting.

Member states are represented by prime ministers, vice-presidents and senior ministers.

During his meeting with the heads of delegations, Rahmon stressed the need to maintain peace and stability in the region and resolve disputes peacefully, saying Tajikistan supported strengthening the central role of the United Nations in these efforts.

Rahmon also called for greater cooperation among member states in combating terrorism, extremism, cyber threats, drug trafficking and transnational organised crime.

Economic and trade cooperation, investment, energy and food security, artificial intelligence and environmental issues were also discussed.

Images released from the meeting show representatives from member states including Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Iran and Uzbekistan alongside the Tajik president.

No Taliban representative appears in the images, and no Taliban official is listed among the official participants in the SCO meeting.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was established in 2001, and Afghanistan has held observer status since 2012.

At previous meetings, SCO member states have repeatedly stressed the need for an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban returned to power, SCO meetings have been held in Dushanbe, Samarkand, New Delhi, Astana and Bishkek without Taliban representatives being invited.

Taliban officials have repeatedly called for participation in the meetings, arguing that SCO decisions concerning the region are incomplete without their involvement.

Tuesday’s meeting in Dushanbe includes delegations from member states and participating countries including Belarus, China, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.

Final documents are expected to be signed at the end of the meeting.

Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda and SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev are also expected to hold a joint press conference on the meeting’s outcomes.