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Afghan Taliban minister Mullah Yaqoob said there was no discussion or decision on the Durand Line during the talks over a ceasefire agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan
Taliban security personnel stand over military vehicles as Afghan men gather in their support during a rally, amid heavy cross-border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Image: AFP)
Following the Pakistan-Afghanistan talks in Doha, the Taliban defence minister has said Pakistan is creating a false narrative about the Durand Line.
Afghan Taliban minister Mullah Yaqoob said there was no discussion or decision on the Durand Line during the talks over a ceasefire agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Describing the Durand Line as “imaginary”, Mullah Yaqoob stressed that the people of Afghanistan will decide on the matter. He said this issue is a stance of the Afghans and not subject to any external power.
Yaqoob said Afghanistan cannot tolerate any violation of its sovereignty and will staunchly defend it. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan does not support any groups opposed to other countries, and the Afghan Taliban do not recognise the Durand Line as an official international border, he said.
He reiterated that the Durand Line is imaginary, even noting that it is referred to as an imaginary border in the document. He said naming the Durand Line as a border was a unilateral decision made by Qatar, which the Afghan Taliban neither chose nor agreed with.
According to top intelligence sources, Yaqoob’s statement, which places the decision in the hands of the people, shifts the issue strategically from a political or diplomatic domain to a national cause thereby strengthening the Taliban’s domestic legitimacy.
The sources said Yaqoob’s declaration that Afghanistan cannot tolerate violations of its sovereignty serves as a warning to Islamabad against further border attacks, drone strikes, or military build-ups near the frontier. By stressing that Afghanistan does not support groups opposed to other countries, he is attempting to present the Taliban regime as a responsible government, they said.
Earlier, the Taliban vowed to chase the Pakistani Army to the India border in a stern warning against invasion attempts. Afghan deputy minister of interior affairs Mawlawi Muhammad Nabi Omari issued a stark warning to Pakistan, saying Afghan forces and tribes could pursue Pakistani troops “up to the Indian border” if they are deemed invaders.
“If the Afghan tribes and nation once declare you an invader by religious decree, I swear by God, you will not find safety even up to the Indian border,” Omari said, addressing the Pakistani military directly. “The Pakistani military regime does everything according to others’ wishes and you must have recently seen the video of Shehbaz Sharif speaking sycophantically to Trump.”
The warning comes amid heightened tensions on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where cross-border clashes have recently flared. Kabul accused Islamabad of violating a 48-hour ceasefire, which had temporarily paused nearly a week of fighting that left dozens of troops and civilians dead on both sides.
Following the clashes, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire, according to Qatar’s foreign ministry, which hosted talks in Doha.
Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
Kabul, Afghanistan
October 19, 2025, 11:30 PM IST
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