Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013<\/strong> Less than two hours after a suicide blast at the entrance of the district court in Pakistan\u2019s capital Islamabad on Tuesday, Khawaja Asif, the country\u2019s defence minister, called the attack a \u201cwake-up call\u201d and \u201ca war for all of Pakistan\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rulers of Kabul can stop terrorism in Pakistan, but bringing this war all the way to Islamabad is a message from Kabul, to which, praise be to God, Pakistan has the full strength to respond,\u201d he wrote on his X account<\/a>.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n After a week of deadly fighting on their border in October, Pakistan and Afghanistan had signed a ceasefire agreement in Doha, with Asif and his Afghan counterpart Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob inking the pact.<\/p>\n But that was followed by two unsuccessful rounds of talks in Istanbul aimed at cementing the ceasefire and turning it into a longer-term pathway for peace between the neighbours.<\/p>\n Now, even as a Turkish delegation is due to arrive in Pakistan later this week to try to salvage those talks between Islamabad and Kabul, Tuesday\u2019s attack threatens to kill the already fragile prospects of any breakthrough, even though the Taliban have condemned the Islamabad blast.<\/p>\n \u201cI should make this clear about Afghanistan,\u201d Asif said, speaking to a local news channel on Tuesday. \u201cAll their wars have been based on insurgency. To counter that, we must rely on conventional war, and Pakistan has a great army.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Pakistan long enjoyed close ties with the Afghan Taliban, and many Pakistanis welcomed the group\u2019s return to power in August 2021.<\/p>\n But relations have soured, largely over Islamabad\u2019s accusations that Kabul has provided sanctuary to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Afghan Taliban reject Pakistan\u2019s accusations.<\/p>\n An armed group that emerged in 2007, the TTP has waged a sustained campaign against Pakistan and is often described as the ideological twin of the Afghan Taliban.<\/p>\n Besides the TTP, Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the local ISIL\/ISIS affiliate, known as the ISKP \u2013 even though the ISKP is a sworn enemy of the Afghan Taliban.<\/p>\n The last two years have seen a sharp rise in violence inside Pakistan. Most attacks have occurred in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, both of which border Afghanistan.<\/p>\n The assaults have disproportionately targeted law enforcement personnel. More than 2,500 people were killed in armed attacks in Pakistan in 2024, one of the country\u2019s deadliest years in nearly a decade, and 2025 appears on track to exceed that toll.<\/p>\n Aside from the suicide blast in Islamabad, a major operation in Wana, the administrative centre of the tribal district South Waziristan, helped avert a potentially catastrophic attack earlier this week. A two-day military operation rescued more than 500 students, teachers and staff, concluding on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n Despite the heightened rhetoric and violence, analysts say the chances of a full-scale conventional war between Pakistan and Afghanistan remain \u201cvery slim\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOpting for a conventional war against Afghanistan would damage the positive image Pakistan has cultivated over the past few months,\u201d Fahad Nabeel, head of Islamabad-based Geopolitical Insights, told Al Jazeera, referring to Islamabad\u2019s growing friendship with the administration of US President Donald Trump, and Pakistan\u2019s narrative that it is a victim of violence from its neighbours \u2013 India and Afghanistan \u2013 rather than a trigger-happy initiator of conflicts.<\/p>\n Iftikhar Firdous, a security analyst who also co-founded the Khorasan Diary \u2013 a security portal that tracks regional security developments \u2013 also agreed.<\/p>\n The arrival of a Turkish delegation, scheduled for later this week, Firdous said, suggests that Afghanistan and Pakistan might be willing to de-escalate.<\/p>\n He pointed to the Taliban\u2019s condemnation of the Islamabad attack as evidence of \u201ctheir intention that they don\u2019t want this [peace talks] to collapse entirely\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement on Tuesday evening, Abul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Afghanistan, said that Kabul \u201cexpresses its deep sorrow and condemnation\u201d regarding the explosion in Islamabad and the attack in Wana.<\/p>\n Remarks reading attacks in Islamabad and Wana pic.twitter.com\/OWR5pCrCnk<\/a><\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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