ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Saturday he was hopeful the government’s agreement with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party would be released in the next seven to 10 days, reported the local media.
The TLP launched a major protest demonstration in the country’s most densely populated Punjab province in October, seeking the release of its incarcerated leader Saad Rizvi along with the expulsion of the French envoy to Pakistan over the publication of anti-Islam caricatures in his country last year.
This led to deadly clashes between the police and supporters of the religious group which claimed the lives of at least seven law enforcement personnel and left several of them injured.
TLP workers were instructed to march on Islamabad, though they camped in Wazirabad city after the government requisitioned paramilitary Rangers to deal with the protesters.
Pakistani officials also tried to pacify the situation by negotiating with the religious party, though they said they were going to announce the details of the government’s agreement with the group at the “right time.”
“An agreement has been decided with the TLP,” the interior minister was quoted by Dawn after he interacted with a group of journalists in the federal capital. “The hope is ... [its details] will come out in seven to 10 days and they will be positive.”
The minister maintained he did not actively participate in the negotiation process which was carried out by the country’s religious affairs ministry and Punjab administration.
Since announcing that it had reached an agreement, the government has released about 2,000 TLP activists who were arrested for perpetrating violence from prison.
Some of the prominent TLP leaders have also been taken off a terrorism watchlist, and the organization has managed to shun its proscribed status.
The interior minister told journalists the central government had banned the religious party on the recommendation of the Punjab administration, adding the Pakistani authorities restored the group’s status after the provincial government rescinded its decision.
Pakistan’s interior minister hopes details of government’s TLP deal will be released in 10 days
https://arab.news/6rtvd
Pakistan’s interior minister hopes details of government’s TLP deal will be released in 10 days
- The government did not share the content of its agreement with the religious party, saying it would do that at the ‘right time’
- Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said he did not actively participate in the negotiations which were carried out by religious ministry, Punjab administration
Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate
- Afghan Taliban spokesperson says “large-scale offensive operations” launched against Pakistani military bases
- Pakistan says Afghan forces opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors along shared border
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Thursday they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.
The escalation follows Islamabad’s weekend airstrikes targeting what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan in response to a wave of recent bombings and attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad said the strikes killed over 100 militants, while Kabul said dozens of civilians were killed and condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.
In a post on social media platform X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan had launched “large-scale offensive operations” in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Afghan forces had initiated hostilities along multiple points of the frontier.
“Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border given an immediate, and effective response,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said Pakistani forces were targeting Taliban positions in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors, claiming heavy Afghan casualties and the destruction of multiple posts and equipment. It added that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.
Separately, security officials said Pakistani forces had carried out counterattacks in several border sectors.
“Pakistan’s security forces are giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked Afghan aggression with full force,” a security official said, declining to be named.
“The Pakistani security forces’ counter-attack destroyed Taliban’s hideouts and the Khawarij fled,” they added, referring to TTP militants.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on militants it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.
The clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Similar Pakistani strikes last year triggered weeklong clashes before Qatar, Türkiye and other regional actors mediated a ceasefire in October.
The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, a key trade and transit corridor linking Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan and onward to Central Asia, has faced repeated closures amid tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement. Trade between the two nations has remained closed since October 2025.
