ISLAMABAD — Following a devastating suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 11 Pakistani soldiers and a young girl, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has formally confronted Afghanistan’s diplomatic representative with strong objections.
On Wednesday, Pakistani officials called in Afghanistan’s deputy head of mission in Islamabad to deliver an official diplomatic complaint regarding Monday’s deadly assault in the northwestern Bajaur district. Pakistani authorities maintain that militants operating from Afghan territory carried out the attack.
“Pakistan reserves the right to respond and eliminate those who were behind the attack wherever they may be located, to protect its soldiers, civilians and borders,” the ministry declared in its statement. Afghan officials have not yet responded to the accusations.
Relations between the two nations have remained tense following violent border confrontations in October 2025 that resulted in numerous deaths among soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants. Those clashes erupted after explosions rocked Kabul on October 9, which Afghanistan attributed to Pakistani involvement. While a Qatar-brokered ceasefire has maintained relative calm, subsequent diplomatic discussions in Istanbul failed to reach a comprehensive resolution, leaving bilateral relations fragile.
Pakistan has experienced an escalation in militant attacks over recent years, with most incidents attributed to the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. This group operates independently from but maintains close ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban government, which regained control in 2021. Pakistani officials assert that the TTP conducts operations from Afghan soil without restriction, an allegation that both the militant group and Kabul’s government reject.
