Pakistan to Maintain Hardline Policy Until Taliban Drop “Guerrilla Mindset”

DID Press: Pakistan’s Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said Islamabad will maintain its current policy toward Kabul unless Afghanistan’s Taliban abandon what he described as a “guerrilla mindset.”

In an interview with Geo News, Chaudhry said Pakistan had sought to change the Taliban leadership’s behavior through dialogue, but would now pursue “practical steps” to see conduct befitting “a responsible state rather than a group with a guerrilla mindset.” He added that the Taliban’s approach toward Pakistan differs from how they interaction with other countries, warning that Islamabad would continue tough measures if this pattern persists.

Chaudhry criticized what he called the Taliban leadership’s silence over attacks on Pakistani civilians, saying that while Taliban leaders issue frequent rulings on women’s issues, they remain silent on attacks against mosques, imambargahs, marketplaces, women, and school buses in Pakistan.

His remarks followed a wave of deadly suicide attacks in Islamabad, Bajaur, and Bannu. Pakistani officials say the perpetrators operated from Afghan territory. Pakistan has also carried out strikes on positions in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Paktika.