Islamabad – The Afghan Taliban are reportedly running a coordinated disinformation campaign through affiliated media outlets to propagate the narrative that Pakistan is demanding the relocation of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters from Pakistan to Afghanistan, officials in Islamabad said on Friday.

Since the beginning of the dialogue process, Pakistan has maintained a clear and singular position, insisting that Afghan soil must not be used to launch terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. Officials say the Taliban are employing propaganda and evasion tactics to avoid making this commitment. According to Pakistani assessments, TTP already operates from Afghan territory, with 58 identified training and staging camps along the border and the group’s leadership based in Kabul and Ghazni. Militants allegedly cross into Pakistan to conduct attacks and return to Afghanistan with their casualties.

The Pakistani delegation at the ongoing Istanbul talks continues to press this central demand. Officials also allege that the Taliban are actively spreading disinformation to undermine Islamabad’s position. During the first round of talks, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed Pakistan had refused to receive Pakistani nationals detained in Afghanistan, a claim Pakistani officials say was false. They assert that similar tactics are now being used to avoid signing written guarantees against harboring militant proxies.

In parallel, accounts allegedly linked to Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) have intensified digital propaganda efforts. Pro-Taliban social media networks circulated fabricated videos portraying TTP violence as “jihad against non-Islamic countries.” One viral post claimed that the Pakistan Army had desecrated a mosque and Holy Qurans using dogs during an operation. The video, widely shared by pro-Taliban accounts, described the footage as having “sparked outrage in Pakistan.”

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information, through its fact-check handle on X, stated that no credible evidence supports the claim. Digital forensic review confirmed the video was AI-generated. GROK, an AI content verification system, verified the visuals were artificial. Investigators traced the disinformation loop to a politically motivated statement that was later amplified by accounts linked to a parody handle known for anti-Pakistan messaging. It was subsequently circulated by Afghan-linked accounts, forming what officials describe as a coordinated amplification network.

Security analysts say the pattern reflects a deliberate strategy in which exploiting religious sentiment for political mobilization, circulating synthetic content, and leveraging Afghan-linked media ecosystems to erode public trust in Pakistani institutions. No verified Pakistani or international news outlet has reported any incident consistent with the claims. The originator of the AI video later acknowledged, 14 hours after the original post, that the footage was artificially generated.

Islamabad has condemned what it describes as a targeted influence operation conducted by hostile actors and alleges the presence of an Indo-Afghan coordinated digital network designed to inflame sectarian sentiment, distort facts, and undermine Pakistan’s state apparatus.

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