Islamabad – Pakistan has dismissed the Afghan Taliban regime’s recent statement regarding the Istanbul peace talks as “false and misleading,” following claims by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid that Islamabad refused Kabul’s offer to deport individuals considered security threats.

In an interview with Khyber News, Mujahid alleged that during the Istanbul negotiations, the Taliban delegation had informed Pakistan’s representatives that the Islamic Emirate was willing to deport people identified by Islamabad as threats. He further claimed that Pakistan instead asked the Taliban to keep such individuals within Afghanistan’s borders.

Responding to these remarks, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the statement attributed to Mujahid was a deliberate distortion of facts discussed during the Istanbul talks. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the ministry clarified that Pakistan had demanded that all terrorists based in Afghanistan and posing a threat to Pakistan be controlled or arrested. When the Afghan side claimed those individuals were Pakistani nationals, Islamabad immediately proposed their handover through designated border crossings. The ministry reiterated that any claim to the contrary was baseless and misleading.

Officials maintained that Pakistan’s position during the Istanbul negotiations remained consistent with its long-standing counterterrorism policy. Islamabad had clearly demanded that individuals in Afghanistan posing a direct threat to Pakistan be controlled, detained, or handed over. Pakistan’s approach, they emphasized, is rooted in security verification, legal procedure, and international norms, not politics.

Sources privy to the negotiation delegation also dismissed Mujahid’s suggestion that Pakistan sought external military involvement or influence from the United States in Afghan affairs. Speaking to HTN, they termed such assertions “entirely unfounded.” Pakistan, they said, continues to emphasize that Afghanistan must ensure its territory is not used as a base for attacks or infiltration into Pakistan.

The rebuttal comes amid heightened tensions along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, where infiltration attempts by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants have persisted despite ongoing diplomatic engagement. During the Istanbul peace talks, Islamabad had called for verifiable counterterror action against groups such as the TTP and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), as well as the establishment of a joint monitoring and verification mechanism to oversee ceasefire compliance.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had also rejected Kabul’s claim that TTP militants were “Pakistani refugees returning home,” terming the argument “absurd.” He questioned how such individuals could be “returning home armed with destructive weapons, sneaking through mountain routes like thieves,” adding that the narrative exposed “Afghanistan’s insincerity and ill intent.”

Pakistan reiterated that it remains committed to bilateral mechanisms, including the Istanbul framework mediated by Türkiye and Qatar, to maintain mutual security and strengthen border management. The Ministry of Information reaffirmed that peace and stability in the region depend on verifiable counterterror measures, not rhetoric or blame-shifting.

Also see: Afghanistan Learning Propaganda Tactics from India for Disinformation Warfare: Attaullah Tarar