‘Open war…’: Pak Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s CHILLING threat to Afghan Taliban ahead of Istanbul talks, says Islamabad will have no option if…

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has threatened an "open war" with the Afghan Taliban ahead of second round peace talks between Kabul and Islamabad in Turkey's Istanbul.

Pakistan-Taliban war: Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has warned that Islamabad would fight an “open war” with the Afghan Taliban if talks with Kabul do not yield desirable results.

What did Khawaja Asif say?

Talking to reporters ahead of the second round of peace talks between Kabul and Islamabad in Turkey’s Istanbul, Khawaja Asif noted there had been no incidents or clashes in recent days, which suggests the Doha agreement has been “somewhat effective”, but stressed that the Istanbul talks will determine whether peace between the two countries will hold.

“I’m not under any illusions, but what I see is that they want peace. We have an option. If there’s no agreement, we will fight them in open war,” the Pakistani defence minister said.

Pakistan-Taliban talks commence in Istanbul

Meanwhile, Islamabad has expressed hope that its fresh round of talks with Kabul in Istanbul on Saturday, will pave the way for a verifiable mechanism to monitor the Afghan Taliban’s actions aimed at preventing cross-border terrorist attacks.

“Pakistan looks forward to the establishment of a concrete and verifiable monitoring mechanism in the next meeting to be hosted by Turkiye in Istanbul on October 25, to address the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil towards Pakistan and prevent any further loss of life of Pakistanis,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said in his weekly press briefing on Friday.

The Istanbul talks between two sides follow the first round held in Doha on October 18 to 19, jointly mediated by Qatar and Turkiye, where Pakistan and Afghanistan had inked a permanent ceasefire and decided to reconvene in Istanbul to develop mechanisms for sustained peace and stability between the two neighbours.

“We welcome the agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan, finalised in Doha, Qatar, on October 19, as a first step in ensuring regional peace and stability,” Andrabi said, noting that the truce agreed in Doha had largely held, with no major terrorist incidents reported since, adding that Pakistan was participating in the Istanbul talks “with the same sincerity of purpose, with the same sincerity of intent with which we participated in Doha.”

Pakistan-Taliban war

The ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan came after nearly two weeks of border hostilities, including recent Pakistani airstrikes in Paktika province that killed ten Afghan nationals, including three local cricketers, and injuring a dozen others, sparking widespread outrage.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban of sheltering and supporting the TTP aka the Pakistani Taliban, a claimed repeatedly denied by Kabul.

(With inputs from agencies)