A ceasefire agreement between Islamabad and Kabul rests on the ruling Afghan Taliban's ability to rein in terrorists attacking Pakistan across their shared border, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters news agency, underscoring the fragility of the accord.
The South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire in Doha at the weekend after days of border clashes that killed dozens, the worst such violence since the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021.
Ground fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani air strikes across their contested 2,600-km frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul control terrorists, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.
"Anything coming from Afghanistan will be (a) violation of this agreement," said Asif, who led the talks with his Afghan counterpart Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob. "Everything hinges on this one clause."
No incursions
In the written agreement signed by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Türkiye and Qatar, it was clearly spelled out that there would not be any incursions, the minister said in an interview in his office at Pakistan's parliament in Islamabad.
"We have a ceasefire agreement as long as there is no violation of the agreement which is already in force."
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) an umbrella of several terror groups, operates out of Afghanistan to attack Pakistan "in connivance" with the ruling Taliban, the minister said.
Kabul denies giving haven to terrorists to attack Pakistan and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering terrorists to undermine its stability and sovereignty.
Islamabad denies the accusations.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said on Sunday that at the Doha talks, "It was decided that neither country would take hostile actions against the other, and support will not be provided to groups operating against the government of Pakistan."
In a follow-up post on X, he said it reflected the Taliban's longstanding position that Afghanistan’s territory would not be used against any other country.
The statements made about the agreement did not constitute a joint declaration, he said.
 Kabul is not ‘no-go’
TTP, who have been waging a war for years against the Pakistani state in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with theirs, have accelerated attacks in recent months to target Pakistani military.
Pakistan carried out air strikes on the Afghan capital Kabul, including one on October 9 in an attempt to kill TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud, Pakistan security officials have said, though he later appeared in a video showing he was alive.
"We were being attacked. Our territory was being attacked. So, we just did tit for tat. We were paying them in the same coin," Asif said.
"They are in Kabul. They are everywhere. Wherever they are we will attack them. Kabul is not, you know, a no-go area."
The next round of talks would be held in Istanbul on October 25 to evolve a mechanism on how to enforce the agreement, Asif said.
Qatar's foreign ministry, which mediated Saturday's talks along with Türkiye, said the follow-up meetings were meant "to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner".
Rise of TTP
Pakistan had been a frontline state during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, hosting nearly four million Afghan refugees and serving as a conduit for international aid to anti-Soviet fighters.
Diplomatically, Pakistan was one of only three countries (alongside Saudi Arabia and the UAE) to recognise the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1997, lobbying for international funding and providing emissary services despite UN sanctions.
Islamabad also championed Afghanistan's global integration through humanitarian aid, trade, border management, and regional collaboration.
However, the violence perpetrated by terrorist groups, especially TTP, within Pakistan has significantly strained its relations with the Afghan Taliban. The latter returned to power in Kabul following the withdrawal of US-led forces in 2021.
According to Pakistani military officials, more than 500 people, including over 311 soldiers, have been killed in attacks, largely carried out by the TTP, so far this year.
The Afghan Taliban denies Pakistani accusations. In its recent statements, it mentioned police firing in Pakistan while Kabul referred to the disputed region of Kashmir as part of India in a joint statement with New Delhi, angering Pakistan.
Afghan Taliban continues to deny supporting the terror group.
TTP is an alliance of several terror groups formed in 2007 that primarily targets Pakistan.
A 2024 UN report estimated 6,000–6,500 TTP terrorists in Afghanistan, using abandoned NATO weapons.
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Source: TRT