NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar Ahmed has alleged that the Taliban government is providing safe havens and other support to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while accusing militant groups operating from Afghanistan of contributing to a rise in terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
In an interview with Arab News, Ahmed said reports by the UN sanctions monitoring team and the UN secretary-general had raised concerns about Afghanistan serving as a safe haven for several terrorist groups.
According to Ahmed, Pakistan recorded more than 5,200 terrorism-related incidents and more than 1,300 deaths in 2025. He said more than 3,000 attacks and over 830 deaths were recorded during the first six months of 2026. He clarified that Pakistan’s figures cover a broader range of terrorism-related incidents than figures specifically attributed to attacks originating from Afghan territory.
The Global Terrorism Index, meanwhile, recorded 1,045 terrorism-related incidents and 1,139 terrorism-related deaths in Pakistan during 2025, providing a separate dataset from the figures cited by the Pakistani envoy.
Pakistan Identifies TTP and Other Groups as Major Threats
Ahmed identified the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Balochistan Liberation Army, Majeed Brigade and Daesh’s regional affiliate as major threats to Pakistan.
He alleged that some of these groups were increasingly operating as proxies for elements opposed to Pakistan in the region.
Asked whether the Afghan Taliban’s failure to stop the TTP reflected a lack of capability or deliberate cooperation, Ahmed said Pakistan believed the situation went beyond a lack of capacity or political will.
He alleged that the Taliban government was providing the TTP with safe havens, arms and ammunition, financial support, planning assistance and facilitation for cross-border infiltration. He also said militants were using modern weapons left behind following the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan. These claims were made by Ahmed and should not be treated as independently established facts.
The Taliban has denied fostering ties with the TTP and other militant groups.
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Pakistan Says Taliban Have Failed to Meet International Expectations
Ahmed said the international community had three major expectations from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021: establishing an inclusive government, respecting human rights—particularly the rights of women and girls—and preventing Afghan territory from being used for terrorism against other countries.
Five years after the Taliban takeover, Ahmed argued that Afghanistan had regressed rather than progressed on these issues. He cited restrictions on women’s employment and girls’ education, along with the country’s governance structure, as examples.
He stressed that Pakistan’s dispute was not with ordinary Afghans but with policies whose consequences, he said, Pakistan had directly experienced.
Pakistan Calls for Verifiable Action Against TTP
Ahmed urged the Taliban leadership to take clear and verifiable measures against groups such as the TTP, including ending their safe havens and financial support.
He said Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, China and Qatar had participated in efforts to mediate between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but claimed that the Taliban leadership had not provided the assurances sought.
Ahmed also suggested that a formal religious edict from senior Taliban clerics against groups such as the TTP, combined with concrete measures against their safe havens and financing, could be part of a response.
Taliban Can End Afghanistan’s Isolation, Pakistan Says
Ahmed said the Taliban leadership could change Afghanistan’s international position by changing its policies.
He argued that addressing terrorism concerns, improving governance and responding to international demands could help Afghanistan move toward ending its isolation, addressing frozen assets and securing formal international recognition.
He said the international community had given the Taliban time and space to demonstrate progress since 2021, but argued that the lack of reciprocal progress had made continued engagement increasingly difficult.
