Overview
- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told the Senate that the 2021 Kabul engagement, symbolized by ex-ISI chief Faiz Hameed’s widely seen tea visit, reopened the border and let hardcore militants return.
- Dar said 35,000–40,000 fighters came back and asserted that releases of hardened TTP members after the outreach fueled killings of thousands of Pakistanis.
- Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the Islamic Emirate offered to deport individuals Pakistan deems threats, a version Islamabad rejected as a deliberate twisting of facts.
- Cross-border clashes followed Pakistani airstrikes last month before a Turkey- and Qatar-mediated ceasefire reduced but did not end violence, with another round of talks slated for November 6 in Istanbul.
- Pakistan also reported killing TTP deputy leader Qari Amjad, a U.S.-designated terrorist, as he allegedly tried to cross from Afghanistan into Pakistan.