Afghan Taliban authorities dismiss Pakistan’s accusation that a deadly Bannu attack was planned in Afghan territory.
KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities dismissed on Tuesday Pakistan’s claim that a deadly suicide attack last week was planned on Afghan soil.
A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb at a checkpoint and militants opened fire on police in Pakistan’s northwestern Bannu area on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, according to officials.
Pakistan summoned the top Afghan diplomat in the country on Monday after concluding that the attack was “masterminded by terrorists residing in Afghanistan”, Islamabad’s foreign ministry said.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X that Kabul “considers the recent statements by Pakistani officials, which claimed that the attack on the police station in Bannu was planned in Afghanistan, baseless”.
“Afghanistan considers the resolution of issues possible through mutual understanding, respect, and genuine cooperation,” he added.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have been fraught since the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021, and exploded into what Pakistan’s defence minister called “open war” in February.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban government of sheltering militants responsible for a surge in attacks — particularly the Pakistan Taliban, who have waged a violent campaign for years.
Afghan officials deny the charge and counter that Pakistan harbours hostile groups and does not respect its sovereignty.
A UN report published on Tuesday found that at least 372 Afghan civilians were killed and 397 others wounded in conflict between Taliban government forces and Pakistan in the first three months of 2026.
More than half of the deaths were attributed to Pakistani airstrikes on a drug rehab facility in Kabul.
