ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected the Afghan Taliban’s assertion that Kabul had neither the interest nor the capacity to fuel insecurity in Pakistan, demanding verifiable action against militant groups operating from Afghan territory amid worsening tensions between the neighbors.

The latest exchange comes amid escalating tensions over militant attacks in Pakistan, cross-border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Islamabad also rejected separate allegations by former US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad that it was arming and recruiting Afghan nationals to fight inside the neighboring country.

“Blaming Pakistan’s security institutions does not absolve the [Afghan Taliban] Regime of its responsibility to prevent Afghan territory from being used for terrorism against Pakistan,” Pakistan’s information ministry said in a statement.

Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a series of posts on X on Friday that Kabul rejected Pakistan’s accusations that Afghanistan was responsible for militant violence across the border.

“Unfortunately, whenever Pakistan’s military establishment and other security agencies fail to maintain security within their own country, they shift the blame for such incidents onto Afghanistan in an attempt to mislead their own people,” he said.

Mujahid said insecurity in Pakistan would also harm Afghanistan economically, socially and in humanitarian terms.

Pakistan rejected that argument, citing international assessments of militant activity in Afghanistan.

The ministry referred to a UN Security Council sanctions monitoring team report issued in 2025 and a US Lead Inspector General report covering January to March 2026, saying they supported Islamabad’s concerns about militant sanctuaries and support networks across the border.

According to the ministry, the US report found that the Afghan Taliban continued to allow the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan territory and estimated the group’s strength at 4,000 to 6,000 fighters.

Pakistan also raised concerns about alleged facilitation of militant groups by Afghan Taliban officials, including in Kandahar, and cited attempted cross-border infiltration, the involvement of Afghan nationals in militant violence and the recovery of foreign-origin weapons.

“The Afghan Taliban Regime must end any tolerance, facilitation or support for terrorist organizations, including TTP, BLA and their affiliates, and ensure that Afghan territory is not used to plan, prepare or launch attacks against Pakistan,” the statement said.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is a separatist militant group operating in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.

Islamabad said its security measures were directed against militant threats rather than the Afghan people and maintained that it remained open to engagement based on mutual respect and verifiable commitments.

In a separate statement on Saturday, Pakistan’s information ministry also rejected allegations by Khalilzad, a former US special representative for Afghanistan, that Islamabad was arming Afghans to fight the Taliban and recruiting Afghan nationals to combat anti-Pakistan insurgents.

Khalilzad said on Friday that there were reports of Pakistan arming Afghans to fight the Taliban inside Afghanistan, as well as reports that the Pakistani military was recruiting Afghan nationals to fight insurgents targeting Pakistan.

“Pakistan categorically rejects the baseless and misleading allegations by Zalmay Khalilzad of arming former Afghans to fight Taliban and their supporters terrorist groups,” the ministry said.

It accused Khalilzad of advancing speculative claims and said Pakistan’s counterterrorism operations against militant groups operating from Afghan territory should not be conflated with recruiting Afghan nationals or sponsoring armed groups inside Afghanistan.

The ministry also accused Khalilzad of diverting attention from the Taliban’s responsibility to prevent Afghan territory from being used by what Islamabad describes as Indian-sponsored militant groups.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of supporting militant violence in the country, particularly in Balochistan. New Delhi denies the allegations.

Security conditions in Pakistan’s western regions have deteriorated since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in August 2021, with Islamabad repeatedly demanding action against militant groups it says operate from Afghan territory.