Pakistan army rejects reports regarding US drone operations in Afghanistan
The Pakistan Army has firmly rejected reports suggesting that the United States is conducting drone operations in Afghanistan from Pakistani territory, calling such claims “baseless and misleading.”
Addressing journalists at the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday, military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan’s position remains “clear and uncompromising” — that Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan.
“Our stance is one-point and non-negotiable: Afghan territory cannot be used to target Pakistan,” Gen Chaudhry said. “The conditions being raised by the Afghan Taliban are irrelevant. What matters is the complete end of cross-border terrorism.”
The statement came as Islamabad prepares for the next round of high-stakes peace talks with the Taliban regime, scheduled for November 6 in Istanbul. The meeting follows last month’s six-day negotiations — mediated by Turkiye and Qatar — which led to a reaffirmation of the Doha ceasefire and an agreement to form a joint monitoring mechanism for cross-border militancy. However, key implementation issues remain unresolved.
Sources in Kandahar confirmed that Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada has held internal consultations with his negotiating team, led by Mullah Najib, to decide their approach for the upcoming talks with Pakistan.
Gen Chaudhry revealed that Pakistan’s counterterrorism operations have intensified along the border, resulting in the killing of 1,667 militants from the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and affiliated groups.
He further disclosed that 206 Afghan Taliban fighters and 112 TTP terrorists were killed in recent border clashes, noting an alarming increase in collaboration between the two factions. “Nearly 60 percent of militants neutralized in infiltration attempts over the past four months were Afghan nationals,” he said.
The military spokesperson reiterated that Pakistan has repeatedly shared evidence with Kabul showing that TTP militants are operating from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. “The Afghan interim government must take decisive steps to eliminate these elements,” he added.
Security analysts say the renewed tension underscores Pakistan’s growing frustration with the Taliban leadership, which Islamabad accuses of failing to rein in TTP attacks despite repeated diplomatic engagements.
The upcoming Istanbul meeting is expected to be crucial in determining whether the fragile ceasefire between the two sides can hold amid rising border hostilities and regional instability.
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