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ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday issued a strong warning to the Afghan Taliban regime, saying Pakistan does not need to employ even a fraction of its full military strength to &ldquo;completely obliterate&rdquo; the Taliban government if provoked. In a statement shared on social media, the minister said Pakistan had engaged in dialogue with the Taliban only at the request of &ldquo;brotherly countries&rdquo; who had urged Islamabad to give peace a chance. However, he said &ldquo;venomous statements by certain Afghan officials&rdquo; reflected the &ldquo;devious and splintered mindset&rdquo; of the Taliban regime.&nbsp;&ldquo;Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding,&rdquo; Asif wrote, warning that a repeat of the scenes of their rout at Tora Bora &ldquo;would surely be a spectacle to watch for the people of the region.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1983426574272868408&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=e5a7764e4b5f3f5afda3241472f87810c34e2d03&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 345px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div> The minister accused the Taliban government of &ldquo;blindly pushing Afghanistan into yet another conflict&rdquo; to sustain its &ldquo;usurped rule and war economy.&rdquo; He said the regime was using &ldquo;hollow war cries&rdquo; to maintain a crumbling fa&ccedil;ade despite knowing its limitations.&nbsp;&ldquo;If the Afghan Taliban regime is madly hellbent upon ruining Afghanistan and its innocent people once again, then so be it,&rdquo; he stated.&nbsp;Asif also dismissed the Taliban&rsquo;s claim of Afghanistan being the &ldquo;graveyard of empires,&rdquo; saying, &ldquo;Pakistan certainly doesn&rsquo;t claim to be an empire, but Afghanistan is definitely a graveyard &mdash; surely for its own people.&rdquo;&nbsp;He added that the &ldquo;war mongers&rdquo; within the Taliban regime had misread Pakistan&rsquo;s resolve and warned that any terrorist attack or suicide bombing inside Pakistan would be met with a decisive response.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have borne your treachery and mockery for too long, but no more. Any terrorist attack inside Pakistan shall give you the bitter taste of such misadventures,&rdquo; Asif cautioned. &ldquo;Test our resolve and capabilities, if you wish so, at your own peril and doom.&rdquo;&nbsp;The remarks come amid growing tensions between Islamabad and Kabul following a series of cross-border attacks that Pakistani officials have blamed on militants operating from Afghan soil.

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Says “venomous statements by certain Afghan officials” reflected the “devious and splintered mindset” of the Taliban regime.

Articles tagged with "Defense Minister Khawaja Asif"

Pakistan doesn’t need even a fraction of its arsenal to 'obliterate Taliban regime': Defense Minister

Pakistan doesn’t need even a fraction of its arsenal to 'obliterate Taliban regime': Defense Minister