Trump urged to mediate between Islamabad and Kabul with 48-hour ceasefire underway
Any transgression by Afghanistan will draw prompt response from Pakistan: Khawaja Asif
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has warned that if Afghanistan violates the 48-hour ceasefire put in place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday (yesterday) at the latter’s request, Pakistan will be forced to respond.
Speaking during a report aired by a private television channel, Asif said the Afghan Taliban regime was indeed serving India’s interests with the Kabul government waging a proxy war on behalf of India.
Referring to the US president, the defense minister said: “Donald Trump has been pushing for a ceasefire globally, and if he also wants to mediate a ceasefire here, he is welcome.”
Read: Explained: Pakistan-Afghanistan border conflict
Tensions along the Pak-Afghan border escalated last weekend, when clashes erupted after Afghanistan opened unprovoked fire on several locations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, prompting a swift and forceful response from the Pakistani army. Several Afghan posts were destroyed and dozens of Afghan soldiers and militants were killed.
Asif said the Taliban’s intentions are not to bring peace but to intensify the conflict. “The tanks that Afghanistan is showing don’t even exist in our arsenal. It’s not clear why they are making such false claims – I don’t know from which scrapyard they acquired these tanks,” he said.
Asif further said that Pakistan agreed to hold talks and requested visas in response to suggestions for dialogue from friendly countries. But when the clashes broke out, the process was suspended and the visa applications were withdrawn.
Learn more: The Taliban regime benefits from a 48-hour reprieve
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the first confrontation took place on the night of October 11-12, when Afghan Taliban forces, supported by “Indian-sponsored Fitna al Khawarij elements”, launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan along the border.
Fitna al Khawarij is the state term for terrorists affiliated with the banned group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), coined in May 2025.
A 48-hour ceasefire was agreed at the request of the Afghan Taliban regime after Pakistan’s “precision strikes” against the Taliban and terrorist hideouts in Kandahar and Kabul.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision was taken at the request of the Taliban and with the mutual consent of both parties. Both sides should engage in constructive dialogue and make sincere efforts to find a “positive solution to a complex but solvable issue”, the ministry said.
