Police officers examine damaged vehicles after a suicide attack outside the district court in Islamabad, November 11, 2025. Photo: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan is considering its options after investigations revealed that the suicide bombers behind the recent attacks in Islamabad and Wana were Afghan nationals. This development will certainly put a strain on the already tense relations between Pakistan and the Taliban regime.
According to officials, preliminary investigations by security agencies have confirmed that the suicide bomber who blew himself up outside the Islamabad court complex and the terrorists involved in targeting Wana Cadet College in South Waziristan were Afghan nationals. The two incidents, which occurred a few days apart, left several people dead.
The findings have reinforced Islamabad’s concerns that Afghanistan continues to serve as a sanctuary for terrorists linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), despite repeated assurances from the Taliban government that Afghan soil would not be used against any country.
Sources close to the matter told The Express PK Press Club that Pakistan would share “conclusive evidence” of Afghan involvement in the latest wave of attacks with mediators including Turkey and Qatar. Both countries are working to find a viable solution between Islamabad and Kabul.
The sources also said that Pakistan was also considering sharing the evidence with the Taliban regime.
The latest revelations come at a delicate phase in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Despite multiple rounds of negotiations conducted under the aegis of regional partners, Islamabad’s patience is wearing thin in the face of Kabul’s reluctance or inability to act against the TTP.
This question was at the center of recent meetings held in Doha and Istanbul. The third round in Istanbul ended in failure without any progress, with both sides blaming each other. The fragile ceasefire, however, remained intact. Nonetheless, the two attacks will likely end the truce, as Pakistan has already made clear that the ceasefire is not open-ended.
Although the Taliban offered verbal assurances, they did not offer concrete commitments, insisting that the TTP issue was an “internal matter of Pakistan”.
Islamabad, however, rejected this argument, reminding the Taliban that most TTP leaders and terrorists are based across the border, under the protection of the Afghan regime.
Following the Doha commitments, Turkey organized a follow-up round in Istanbul on November 6, bringing together Pakistani officials and representatives of the Taliban under Turkish mediation. Pakistan reiterated its demand for expulsion or neutralization of TTP militants, while the Afghan side again urged Islamabad to politically engage the group.
The suicide bombings in Islamabad and Wana took place just days after the Istanbul talks and are now seen by Pakistani officials as a direct defiance of their warnings. The discovery that the two suicide bombers were Afghan nationals has, as one security official put it, “crossed a red line.”
A senior official said Islamabad was now “looking at all options” to respond.
“We realize that the policy of restraint has not produced results,” added the official. “Pakistan will act in its own security interests if the Taliban continues to ignore our concerns.”
At the same time, Pakistan is coordinating with friendly countries such as Turkey, Qatar and China to address the evolving situation.
Pakistan, already facing internal security challenges and political uncertainty, could find itself drawn into a prolonged standoff with Kabul if diplomacy fails.
For now, the message from Islamabad to Kabul is clear: the era of quiet tolerance is over. If the Taliban regime fails to contain the groups attacking Pakistan from Afghan soil, Islamabad will no longer be able to rely solely on talks to protect its interests.
Earlier, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had said on Thursday that Afghan nationals had carried out two suicide attacks in Pakistan this week.
The two suicide bombers involved in the attacks were identified as Afghans, he told Parliament during a session broadcast live on television. “This is our major and serious concern,” Naqvi said, adding that Pakistani authorities have repeatedly taken up the security issue with the Afghan Taliban administration in Kabul. He accused the Afghan Taliban regime of supporting terrorists who attack Pakistani forces.
There was no immediate response from Kabul.
Moreover, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) on Thursday released a startling report showing direct Afghan involvement in the Wana Cadet College attack.
“The attack on Wana Cadet College was planned and controlled from Afghanistan. The attack was planned in Afghanistan by Kharji Zahid and final approval was given by Kharji Noorwali Mehsud. All Khwarij who attacked Wana Cadet College were Afghan citizens,” the MoIB said in a follow-up report on the attack published on X, formerly Twitter, along with evidence.
“Equipment for this attack was supplied from Afghanistan, which included US-made weapons,” the report added.
“On the orders of Kharji Noor Wali Mehsud, the responsibility for the attack was accepted by ‘Jaish-ul-Hind’. Kharji Noor Wali wanted to blame Fitna-ul-Kharij (TTP), which is why the Afghan terrorist continued to mention Jaish-ul-Hind in the video made during the attack,” the report noted.
He added that the Afghan Taliban pressured Fitna al-Khawarij not to accept responsibility for the attacks, as this brings them under pressure from Pakistan and friendly countries.
“The attack on Cadet College Wana was aimed at increasing security concerns in Pakistan, at the behest of Indian agency RAW,” the report said.
He said the identity of the Afghan terrorists killed in the attack firmly established the terrorists’ links to their bases in Afghanistan.
