Pakistan's military spokesperson has warned the Afghan Taliban regime that it cannot absorb the response Pakistan would deliver to threats coming from Afghan soil, in an interview with Reuters in Rawalpindi.

Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, said Pakistan could counter threats from the Afghan Taliban, including drones, and was ready for attempts to test its operational readiness. Whatever they want to send, they can; they may try. We have the capability to take them on, he said.

Accusations against Kabul and New Delhi

Lt Gen Chaudhry said the Afghan Taliban were harbouring militant leaders and allowing armed groups to operate from Afghan territory against Pakistan, naming Noor Wali Mehsud, Bashir Zeb and Gul Bahadur. He described India as the biggest sponsor of terrorism facing Pakistan and said the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Balochistan Liberation Army were acting as Indian proxies. He said whatever drone capability the Afghan Taliban possessed was not indigenous and was being supplied by their sponsors.

Demand to act like a state

The spokesperson said Islamabad was not seeking Afghanistan's isolation but expected Kabul to act like a state, stop supporting terrorism inside Pakistan and halt drug production. If you do it, then there will be a cost, he said. And we are capable of imposing that cost and we have a clear strategy how to impose that cost. He also said Pakistan had no interest in dictating how Afghanistan should be governed, and declined to give operational details when asked about the use of artificial intelligence to identify targets in Afghanistan.

Sources: The News (Reuters interview); Business Express; Shafaqna Pakistan.