ISLAMABAD: Pakistan believes in peaceful coexistence with Afghanistan though it has concerns about a persistent militant threat originating from the neighboring country, the Pakistani information minister said on Tuesday, urging the Taliban authorities to change their “militant mindset.”

The statement comes amid a rise in tensions between the two countries this month after Pakistan conducted airstrikes against what it called militant hideouts in Afghanistan. Kabul said the strikes killed three civilians, contrary to Islamabad’s claim of killing 28 militants.

Pakistani airstrikes followed deadly militant attacks and security forces’ encounters with militants, particularly in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, that killed dozens of civilians, soldiers and law enforcement personnel.

Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan believed in peace with Afghanistan and held several rounds of negotiations with the Taliban to ensure the two countries existed peacefully.

“Various high-level delegations traveled from Pakistan to Afghanistan to find a solution to this problem and to ensure that there is a peaceful coexistence between the two countries,” he said in televised comments.

“But is there a will to achieve peace [on Afghanistan’s part]? The answer unfortunately is no,” he said. “The problem is that the mindset needs to be changed. The Afghan interim government needs to move out of its militant mindset into a mindset of a statesman or a state.”

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to militant groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), that operate on its soil and carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the allegation and says Pakistan’s security is an internal matter of Islamabad.

United Nations monitoring reports have documented the presence of militant groups in Afghanistan. A UN report released this year said no member state supported the Taliban authorities’ assertion that there were no militant groups in the country and said the TTP was among the largest groups operating there, with greater liberty and support from the de facto authorities.

In recent years, Pakistan has consistently demanded the Afghan Taliban authorities take “verifiable” action against the TTP and other militant groups.

The neighbors, which share a roughly 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, engaged in cross-border incursions this month after Pakistan hit alleged militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan on Sept. 21. Pakistan struck 10 more locations in Afghanistan on Thursday after Islamabad said drones had entered Pakistani airspace from Afghanistan.

The incursions followed a gun-and-bomb assault on a police compound in KP’s Kohat on Sept. 18, which killed 23 people, including 17 police officers, according to officials. A militant faction led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur claimed responsibility for the attack. On Saturday, TTP claimed responsibility for an attack near a customs checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan district that killed at least 12 people and wounded over 30.

Tarar said they had tried to put their point across that only peace could lead to prosperity in Afghanistan and the region.

“We’ve had different sessions with our esteemed friends from Central Asian states. And I think there is a desire in the region to achieve peace and to boost trade. There is a consensus on this point,” he said.

“The only problem remains peace in Afghanistan. And that can only be achieved once the interim Afghan government understands this problem and with good intentions, tries to find a solution to this.”