Photo via Dawn

Pakistan slams Afghan Taliban for 'shifting blame', 'persistent refusal' to address terrorism issues

Read the original at Dawn ↗
Cite

News Desk. (2026, October 31). Pakistan slams Afghan Taliban for 'shifting blame', 'persistent refusal' to address terrorism issues. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/2041221/pakistan-slams-afghan-taliban-for-shifting-blame-persistent-refusal-to-address-terrorism-issues

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Dawn · collected 2026-10-31 · by News Desk

Quick Summary

On Saturday, Pakistan's information ministry criticized the Afghan Taliban for blaming Islamabad’s policies and refusing to address terrorism from Afghan soil. The ministry responded to comments by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who accused Pakistan of hindering conflict resolution through wrong policies. Pakistan reiterated its stance that terrorism is a red line and urged the Taliban regime to take responsibility for threats originating in Afghanistan.
Written by AI on 2026-10-31, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 31, 2026, Pakistan's information ministry strongly criticized the Afghan Taliban for blaming Islamabad's policies and refusing to address terrorism originating in Afghanistan. This response was triggered by comments from Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who accused Pakistan of hindering conflict resolution due to its "wrong policies." The Pakistani ministry dismissed Mujahid’s remarks as a “deeply misguided approach,” highlighting the Taliban regime's failure to tackle terrorism within their own borders. Pakistan reiterated its stance that addressing terrorism is crucial for improving bilateral relations and resolving conflicts between the two nations.

Written for “Pakistan Criticizes Afghan Taliban” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.65, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 3 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 120099: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-31

Story

📰 Pakistan Criticizes Afghan Taliban
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Dawn
Hedges 4 of 30 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different parts of an ongoing issue between Pakistan and Afghanistan; Article A focuses on a specific firing incident in Angoor Adda, while Article B addresses a broader diplomatic rebuke over terrorism.”
Dawn
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 4 of 30 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles cover different statements made by Pakistan and Afghanistan regarding their relationship and recent incidents, but they describe separate exchanges rather than the exact same incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
72/100
Dawn's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-31 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Dawn · 2513 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

News Desk
331 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 In its statement, the information ministry said the Afghan spokesman’s remarks expose the “regime’s deeply misguided approach and unwillingness to confront the root cause of deteriorating relations with Pakistan”.
🔮 In July 2025, a steering committee tasked with developing the Greater Karachi Regional Plan 2047 was informed that the new master plan of the country’s commercial capital would be ready within two years.
🔮 He began by saying that Pakistan and Singapore enjoyed longstanding and friendly ties focused on mutual respect and goodwill, and Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognise Singapore following its independence in 1965.
🔮 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday affirmed that Pakistan and Turkiye would continue to push for dialogue and diplomacy while strengthening their defences under the Makkah Defence Agreement.
🔮 “The situation could have deteriorated as far as the Yemen issue is concerned […] There has been some talk and peace may emerge in the coming days or week as far as Saudi Arabia versus Yemen [sic] is concerned.”
🔮 “The situation could have deteriorated as far as the Yemen issue is concerned […] There has been some talk and peace may emerge in the coming days or week as far as Saudi Arabia versus Yemen (sic) is concerned.”
🔮 “The situation could have deteriorated as far as the Yemen issue is concerned […] There has been some talk and peace may emerge in the coming days or week as far as Saudi Arabia versus Yemen (sic) is concerned.”
🔮 Earlier in the day, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi condemned the incident, asserting that Pakistan would “never tolerate” attacks on its people or violations of its sovereignty.
🔮 It added that another geared vessel, MV GREAT RAINBOW, carrying 599,000 metric tonnes of wheat, was expected to arrive on Nov 3.
2026-10-28 · assertive framing · Consignment of imported wheat arrives at Karachi port
🔮 Their defence ties drew international attention during the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India, when Pakistan used Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by News Desk
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 331 articles by News Desk →

Topics

Afghan Taliban Islamabad Kabul Pakistan Taliban

Subjects

Pakistan GPE · 10× Islamabad GPE · 6× Afghan NORP · 5× Afghan Taliban ORG · 4× Kabul GPE · 4× Taliban ORG · 4× Afghanistan GPE · 3× Angoor Adda GPE · 2× Pakistani NORP · 2× the Afghan Taliban’s ORG · 1×

Narrative

The statement came in response to remarks made by Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who blamed Islamabad’s “wrong policies” for preventing a resolution to the conflict and insisted Kabul was not the cause of counterterrorism issues.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-31
🔮 In its statement, the information ministry said the Afghan spokesman’s remarks expose the “regime’s deeply misguided approach and unwillingness to confront the root cause of deteriorating relations with Pakistan”.

Claims (21 extracted, 1 hedged)

The information ministry on Saturday rebuked the Afghan Taliban’s stance on the ongoing conflict between the two countries, assailing its “persistent refusal to address terrorism” emanating from Afghanistan’s soil. asserted
ministry → rebuke → soil
The statement came in response to remarks made by Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who blamed Islamabad’s “wrong policies” for preventing a resolution to the conflict and insisted Kabul was not the cause of counterterrorism issues. asserted
Kabul → come → issues
“Pakistan does not want to resolve the conflict with Afghanistan through talks,” Mujahid told Hurriyat Radio, claiming that Islamabad “lacks the necessary readiness for a peaceful resolution of differences”. asserted
Islamabad → want → differences
In its statement, the information ministry said the Afghan spokesman’s remarks expose the “regime’s deeply misguided approach and unwillingness to confront the root cause of deteriorating relations with Pakistan”. asserted
remarks → say → Pakistan
“The Taliban leadership continues to blame Islamabad’s policies while conveniently ignoring the single most important issue poisoning bilateral relations: its persistent failure to address terrorism emanating from Afghan soil,” it added. asserted
it → continue → soil
The ministry reiterated Pakistan’s “unequivocal” position: terrorism is a red line and the security of its citizens is non-negotiable. asserted
security → reiterate → citizens
* “The Afghan Taliban regime must understand that Pakistan will not tolerate terrorist sanctuaries across its borders that impact its security nor allow its people to remain targets of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan,” it stated. asserted
it → understand → Afghanistan
Islamabad reiterated that the “Taliban regime’s persistent refusal to address terrorism remains the principal obstacle to normal relations”. asserted
refusal → reiterate → relations
“Shifting blame, making hollow assurances and questioning Pakistan’s policies will neither resolve the crisis nor absolve Kabul of its responsibilities. asserted
Shifting → shift → responsibilities
The Afghan Taliban leadership must understand that Pakistan’s security will not be held hostage to Afghan Taliban’s inaction, evasions or misplaced priorities.” asserted
security → understand → inaction
The information ministry affirmed that Pakistan reserved the right to “take all necessary measures, in accordance with international law, to eliminate threats to its national security, wherever they originate”. asserted
they → affirm → security
It urged Kabul to recognise that the responsibility for addressing these threats “rests squarely with the Afghan Taliban regime”. asserted
responsibility → urge → regime
“Pakistan’s resolve to protect its people must never be mistaken for weakness,” it declared. asserted
it → protect → weakness
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration in Kabul to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), that are used for attacks in Pakistan. asserted
that → urge → Pakistan
Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded. asserted
appeals → say → ?
Multiple rounds of talks between the two sides last year, facilitated by Qatar and Turkiye, failed to bring about any workable solution, with the Pakistani government saying the Taliban officials gave no assurances on the key issues. asserted
officials → facilitate → issues
Efforts this year made with China’s involvement also resulted in no breakthrough. asserted
Efforts → make → breakthrough
September witnessed another bout of conflict between the two neighbours, with Pakistan carrying out calibrated airstrikes in the border region in response to terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. asserted
Pakistan → witness → Pakhtunkhwa
This was followed by drone incursions from across the border, which Islamabad said were shot down, and two further rounds of retaliatory airstrikes. asserted
Islamabad → follow → airstrikes
Those skirmishes continued in October, with Pakistani security forces responding to unprovoked fire from the Afghan side along the border in Kurram and Lower South Waziristan’s Angoor Adda, according to security sources. uncertain
forces → continue → sources
On Tuesday, Afghan security forces opened unprovoked fire on border posts and residential areas in the Angoor Adda border area, which claimed the life of one local and injured a family of five. asserted
which → open → five
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support