Pakistan can rout Afghan Taliban without using its full arsenal: Khawaja Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday issued a stern warning to the Afghan Taliban, condemning their insincere posture and criticising them for harbouring terrorists who carry out cross border attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces.

Taking to X, Asif accused Taliban officials of spewing hatred against Pakistan even as Islamabad sought dialogue with Kabul. He said Pakistan had repeatedly urged the Taliban to act against terrorist networks operating from Afghan soil, but that the group’s continued stubbornness left Islamabad with limited options.

“As far as I am concerned, Pakistan does not need to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to neutralise the Taliban regime,” Asif wrote, adding that a targeted, decisive strike would be sufficient “to push them back to the caves for hiding.” He warned that a repeat of the Taliban’s rout at Tora Bora could follow if they persisted in their current course.

While on the request of brotherly countries who were persistently being beseeched by Taliban Regime, Pakistan indulged in talks to give peace a chance, venomous statements by certain Afghan officials clearly reflect the devious and splintered mindset of Taliban regime.
Let me…

— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) October 29, 2025

The minister accused certain elements within the Taliban of stoking a war narrative for “vested interests,” and said the group had badly miscalculated Pakistan’s resolve. “If the Taliban choose to engage Pakistan in conflict, they will find their threat to be nothing more than a performative circus,” he said.

Asif also rejected the romanticised notion of Afghanistan as a historic “graveyard of empires,” saying Pakistan never claimed such a title but that Afghanistan today risked becoming a graveyard for its own people because of the Taliban’s policies.

He warned that any terrorist attack or suicide bombing inside Pakistan would be met with a “bitter” response, framed as a consequence of misadventures by those backing or sheltering militants. The minister urged the international community and Kabul to take Islamabad’s concerns seriously to avoid further escalation.