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Islamabad, Pakistan – A collection of explosions and bursts of gunfire rattled Afghanistan’s capital late Thursday night, in line with native media. The reason for the blasts and the extent of casualties stay unclear.
Taliban authorities spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that an explosion had been heard in Kabul, saying the trigger was underneath investigation.
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“An explosion was heard in Kabul metropolis,” he posted on social media platform X in Pashto. “However don’t fear, it’s all good and nicely. The accident is underneath investigation, and no accidents have been reported but. To this point there is no such thing as a report of any hurt carried out.”
The incident got here amid worsening relations between Afghanistan and its western neighbour Pakistan, which has accused the Taliban authorities – in energy since August 2021 – of offering secure havens to armed teams, significantly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad blames for a surge in assaults on its safety forces.
The explosions additionally coincided with the arrival of the Taliban administration’s overseas minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in India for a six-day visit, the primary such journey for the reason that Taliban’s return to energy.
Following the Kabul explosions, hypothesis swirled on social media that Pakistan was behind the assault, allegedly concentrating on senior TTP leaders, together with its chief, Noor Wali Mehsud.
Nonetheless, the Taliban haven’t levelled any accusations but. Pakistani safety officers, talking on situation of anonymity as they weren’t authorised to speak to the media, neither confirmed nor denied involvement within the Kabul explosions. “We now have seen the media reviews and statements from Afghan officers about explosions in Kabul. Nonetheless, we’ve got no additional particulars on this,” one official informed Al Jazeera.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs additionally didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s queries.
Whereas neither the Taliban nor the TTP has commented on Mehsud and whether or not he’s secure, Mujahid’s feedback recommend that nobody was killed within the explosions.
As soon as seen as closely backed by Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban have been attempting to recalibrate their overseas coverage, partaking regional powers equivalent to India, their former adversary, in a bid to safe eventual diplomatic recognition.
Pakistan, in the meantime, has accused India of supporting armed teams working on its soil, a cost New Delhi denies.
Fragile thaw between Kabul and Islamabad
After a bloody 2024, one among Pakistan’s deadliest years in almost a decade, with greater than 2,500 individuals killed in violence, each nations tried to reset their relationship.
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar visited Kabul in April, with senior management on either side holding a collection of conferences, usually mediated by China. That course of led to upgraded diplomatic ties and a quick lull in violence over the summer time.
But, in line with the Pakistan Institute of Battle and Safety Research (PICSS), an Islamabad-based assume tank, violence within the first three quarters of 2025 almost matched the complete toll of 2024.
TTP stays the singular trigger for the rising assaults since 2021, in line with US-based Armed Battle Location & Occasion Knowledge (ACLED).
“Our information present that the TTP engaged in at the least 600 assaults in opposition to, or clashes with, safety forces up to now 12 months alone. Its exercise in 2025 to date already exceeds that seen in all of 2024,” a latest report by the ACLED identified.
And in latest days, Pakistan has witnessed an additional escalation in violence. A string of assaults has killed dozens of troopers, largely within the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which shares an extended and porous border with Afghanistan. The Pakistani navy on Friday mentioned it killed greater than 30 fighters concerned in a recent attack within the tribal district of Orakzai.
In September alone, at the least 135 individuals had been killed and 173 injured. After visiting wounded troopers following raids that killed 19 personnel, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a stark warning to Afghanistan.
“Select one among two paths. In the event that they want to set up relations with Pakistan with real goodwill, sincerity and honesty, we’re prepared for that. But when they select to facet with terrorists and help them, then we can have nothing to do with the Afghan interim authorities,” Sharif mentioned on September 13.
On Thursday, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif additionally accused Afghanistan of enabling violence in Pakistan whereas talking on the ground of the parliament
“Regardless of years of negotiations with the Afghan authorities and delegations coming and going to Kabul, the bloodshed in Pakistan has not stopped. Each day funerals of navy personnel are being held. We’re paying the value of 60 years of hospitality to six million Afghan refugees with our blood,” he mentioned.
Pakistan has hosted thousands and thousands of Afghan refugees for the reason that Eighties, first after the Soviet invasion, then through the Taliban’s preliminary rule within the Nineties, and once more after their 2021 takeover.
Since November 2023, Islamabad has been finishing up a mass expulsion campaign, forcing Afghans – lots of whom have lived in Pakistan for many years – to return dwelling. Authorities figures say almost one million have been despatched again to date.
Deepening distrust
The tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban in recent times have additionally escalated into navy clashes.
The Pakistani navy has beforehand carried out airstrikes inside Afghan territory, essentially the most recent one in December 2024.
Analysts say that if the newest explosions had been certainly linked to Pakistan, the implications may very well be severe.
Tameem Bahiss, a safety analyst based mostly in Kabul, mentioned the Taliban have persistently denied harbouring TTP fighters, and any formal acknowledgement of strikes contained in the capital might inflame tensions.
“We’ve seen earlier than these earlier Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan yielded no concrete outcomes. As a substitute, they solely deepened distrust and made cooperation on countering the TTP harder. This newest incident will probably harden positions additional, making dialogue and coordination much more sophisticated,” he informed Al Jazeera.
The final main focused strike in Kabul befell in 2022, when al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone assault.
Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, an Islamabad-based safety analyst, mentioned that if Pakistan was concerned within the assaults, they could have been supposed as a warning following latest assaults on Pakistani soil.
Mehsud, who co-founded The Khorasan Diary, a security-focused information outlet, mentioned the explosions might sign Pakistan’s intent to pursue high-value targets throughout the border.
“Pakistan might attempt to goal people in Kabul, which is the political capital, in addition to these in Kandahar, which is seen because the non secular capital of Taliban, in case safety scenario in Pakistan stays dire and Afghan Taliban don’t rein within the TTP,” he cautioned.
Bahiss, nonetheless, warned that any cross-border strikes might backfire.
“If Pakistan continues to broaden its strikes inside Afghanistan, extra Afghans might start to sympathise with the TTP. This sympathy might translate into new recruits, funding, and probably even quiet help from some segments throughout the Afghan Taliban,” he mentioned.
He added that if Pakistan certainly was concentrating on TTP leaders inside Afghanistan, that would provoke the group into escalating assaults inside Pakistan.
“If TTP leaders have certainly been focused or killed inside Kabul, that may additionally function a warning to the group, exhibiting that they don’t seem to be secure even within the capital,” Bahiss mentioned. “The TTP will probably adapt by tightening its safety measures, relocating its management, and probably retaliating by means of extra aggressive assaults in Pakistan.”
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