ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday dismissed Afghan allegations that Islamabad is acting on behalf of the United States to engineer a regime change in Kabul, describing the claim as “total nonsense.”
The remarks come after a week of deadly border clashes — the worst violence between the two neighbors since the Taliban group seized power in Kabul in 2021 — that left dozens dead and hundreds injured. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Sunday and will meet again on Oct. 25 in Istanbul for further talks.
The ground fighting between the two nations and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in militants who have stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operate from havens in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this.
“I don’t want to use any strong word for that, but it’s total nonsense and nothing else. Why would we? We have enough involvement in Afghan affairs,” Asif told Arab News when asked about claims by the Kabul government that Pakistan was facilitating a US-backed regime change effort in Afghanistan.
“For the last four or five decades we have had enough. We want to stay away and live like decent neighbors.”
