In recent months, the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly referred to as Fitna al-Khawarij has intensified its terrorist attacks on Pakistan.
Using Afghan soil as a base of operations, this outfit frequently targets Pakistani posts and security personnel, often with the involvement of Afghan nationals. Hardly a day passes without such attacks, which have inflicted heavy casualties on Pakistan’s defence forces. This slow but deliberate bleeding of Pakistan is a strategy orchestrated by India’s intelligence agency, RAW, and executed through its proxies operating from Kabul. Unfortunately, the Interim Afghan Taliban Government appears to have become a tool in India’s strategy of promoting terrorism against Pakistan.
In the past few days alone, Pakistan has lost 19 soldiers in various attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. India, after its failure in Operation Sindoor, has adopted an indirect approach by sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan through Afghan-based networks. Historically, successive Afghan governments have leaned towards India while maintaining hostility towards Pakistan. Disturbingly, even the current Taliban Government—claiming adherence to Islam, the Holy Qur’an, and Sunnah—seems to cooperate with New Delhi against a Muslim State.
This contradiction is stark. The Modi-led BJP government continues to oppress, marginalize, and kill Muslims within India, yet the Taliban regime appears to align with it against Pakistan. Such a stance exposes the Taliban’s hypocrisy: while they wear the mask of Islam, their actions run contrary to Islamic principles. Islam explicitly forbids the killing of innocents, yet these groups continue to murder both Muslims and non-Muslims who reject their extremist ideology. Whereas Islam promotes peace and harmony among humanity, the Fitna people and their Afghan and Indian abettors promote and fuel hatred and killings. As per Foreign Office Spokesperson, “Groups like Fitna al Khawarij represent a common threat to the peace and stability of our region, necessitating collective action to counter their malign influence.”
Field Marshal Asim Munir has been a firm advocate of peace and tranquility between Pakistan and Afghanistan; nevertheless, there has always been negative response from Taliban Government of Afghanistan in addressing the security problems of Pakistan. Pakistan still desires peaceful resolution of all issues; however, Afghan rulers “don’t listen to us.” On September 13, 2025, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Bannu to attend the funerals of martyred soldiers. During a high-level briefing, they were informed about terrorist activities being orchestrated from Afghan soil. Following this, the Prime Minister made a categorical statement: the Afghan Interim Taliban Government must choose between supporting the Khawarij or standing with Pakistan. His warning was unequivocal; Pakistan will no longer tolerate the loss of its trained soldiers at the hands of terrorists. While commending the courage of Pakistan’s security forces, he also declared that any entity found harboring terrorists will face severe consequences. Pakistan’s security forces, for their part, have launched numerous intelligence-based operations (IBOs), eliminating hundreds of Indian-sponsored Khawarij. Significant caches of weapons and ammunition have also been seized. Reports confirm that alongside Pakistani nationals, many Afghan nationals have joined these terrorist groups. Pakistan rightly expects the Taliban government to honor its commitments and deny the use of Afghan soil for attacks against its neighbour.
The growing nexus between the Afghan Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Fitna al-Khawarij deserves careful analysis. Bill Roggio, Senior Fellow and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal, argues in his research article “Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda aiding Pakistani Taliban’s insurgency” that the Taliban, with Al Qaeda’s support, are directly sheltering, training, and assisting the TTP. Similarly, a June 2023 UNSC report concluded that the link between the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and TTP remains “strong and symbiotic.” Multiple terrorist groups continue to operate from Afghanistan, targeting Pakistan with the tacit approval of Kabul’s de facto rulers. The question arises: why has Fitna al-Khawarij escalated its activities against Pakistan after 2021? The answer lies in the Taliban’s return to power following the US-Taliban Agreement of February 29, 2020. After regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban reignited the ambitions of Pakistani militants. The TTP, inspired by the Afghan Taliban’s victory, sought to carve out its own territory—specifically in the former FATA region, which for decades had been a hub of militancy. However, the merger of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa disrupted these designs, triggering renewed violence.
The distinction between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP is critical. While the former fought against foreign occupation from 2001 to 2021, the latter wages war against its own state, people, and defence forces. Unlike the Taliban’s struggle, the TTP enjoys no popular support. Pakistan has a democratically elected government and a constitution that categorically rejects terrorism. The Khawarij have no place within Pakistan’s constitutional or social framework. By supporting the TTP and similar groups, the Afghan Taliban Government is violating Pakistan’s sovereignty, the UN Charter, international law, and its own commitments under the Doha Agreement. Such actions undermine its claim to legitimacy.
Since Kabul continues to shelter and support the terrorists of Fitna al-Khawarij, it disqualifies itself from recognition by the international community as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. What Afghanistan urgently needs is a broad-based, representative government that respects the sovereignty of its neighbours. At the 2025 SCO Summit, the forum reiterated the necessity of an inclusive government in Kabul that abides by international norms, the UN Charter and globally accepted principles of governance. Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable; therefore, the Afghan Taliban government must respect them before it is too late. Moreover, as a responsible state, India must immediately cease its sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
