Taliban Accuses Pakistan of Strikes Aimed at Sidestepping Makkah Defence Pact
The Taliban claims Pakistan's strikes on Afghanistan are meant to dodge its commitments under the Makkah defence pact, as both sides dispute the targets hit.
The Taliban has accused Pakistan of carrying out strikes inside Afghanistan in order to avoid its obligations under a defence agreement involving Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, known as the Makkah defence pact.
Pakistan has rejected that framing, saying its strikes were directed at military objectives. According to Islamabad, the action followed what it described as aggression from Afghan territory.
Kabul, for its part, says the strikes killed civilians, a claim that Pakistan's account does not address. The two sides remain at odds over what was targeted and why.
The accusation from the Taliban places the cross-border strikes in the context of the Makkah pact, suggesting that Pakistan may be seeking to sidestep commitments that the agreement would otherwise require of it. No further details on the pact's specific provisions or on how the strikes might relate to them were provided.
The competing claims from Islamabad and Kabul have not been independently reconciled, and the exact toll and nature of the targets remain disputed.