Trump calls Pak-Afghan conflict ‘easy to resolve’

As Pakistan and Afghanistan today agreed to extend their ceasefire by 48 hours, US President Donald Trump spoke out on the conflict, calling it “easy to resolve.”

“I understand that Pakistan has attacked or there is an attack underway against Afghanistan – that’s an easy question for me to resolve, if I have to resolve it,” Trump said while responding to a reporter at a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

He said he enjoyed resolving conflicts because he wanted to stop people from being killed and claimed he had “saved millions and millions of lives.”

“The Prime Minister of Pakistan said that I saved tens of millions of lives by interceding between Pakistan and India – that would have been a bad solution, two nuclear nations,” he added, referring to the conflict in May this year between the two neighboring countries.

Learn more: Pakistan and Afghanistan extend ceasefire until conclusion of Doha negotiations

The US president’s statement comes as Islamabad and Kabul agreed to extend the temporary truce until the conclusion of planned talks in Doha, according to three Pakistani security officials and an Afghan Taliban source.

Diplomatic sources confirmed that the ceasefire was extended at the request of Kabul after the initial 48-hour truce expired at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned that Pakistan would not tolerate terrorism originating from Afghan soil and vowed that its perpetrators – “wherever they are” – would pay a heavy price.

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He claimed that the terrorism faced by Pakistan today was the result of collaboration between India, elements in Afghanistan and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned group.

“The rulers of Kabul – now sitting in India’s lap and allegedly conspiring against Pakistan – were until recently under our protection and moving freely on our soil,” Asif said.

The minister said that all Afghan nationals currently residing in Pakistan must return to their home countries, asserting that Afghanistan now has its own government. He said Pakistan’s land and resources belonged to its 250 million citizens and “the time had come to end five decades of forced hospitality.”

He ruled out any further diplomatic delegations to Kabul and warned that letters of protest or calls for peace would no longer be Pakistan’s only response. “Any source of terrorism – wherever it is – will have to pay a heavy price,” he said.

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A temporary truce between the neighbors earlier this week ended days of fierce fighting that left dozens dead and hundreds injured.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the clashes began 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.

The ISPR said the Afghan Taliban “resorted to cowardly aggression” at four locations in Spin Boldak, which were “effectively repelled” by Pakistani troops.

Read: The Taliban regime is not “true representatives” of the Afghan people, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“Eight posts, including six tanks, were destroyed in an effective but proportionate response,” the military statement said, adding that between 25 and 30 Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij militants were believed to have been killed.

Security sources said The Express PK Press Club that Pakistani forces carried out precision strikes in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, targeting key Taliban strongholds.

“The strikes completely destroyed the Taliban’s No. 4 Battalion and No. 6 Border Brigade, killing dozens of foreign and Afghan militants,” an official said.

Following intense clashes, the two sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire to allow dialogue and give the Taliban another opportunity to address Pakistan’s concerns.