“We will wipe out all traces…” – Pakistan’s new threat raises fears of major conflict in the region

Islamabad (The Uttam Hindu) – The situation in South Asia appears to be escalating once again. Escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have now reached the brink of open conflict. Hours after peace talks between the two countries in Istanbul failed, Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif issued an open threat to the Taliban regime on Wednesday.

"Even 1% of weapons will be enough" - Pak Defence Minister

Posting on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Asif wrote, "Pakistan won't need to use even 1% of its weapons to completely destroy the Taliban regime. If they continue to attack Pakistan, we will push them back into their caves." He further said that if the Taliban continues to spread terror from across the border, a Tora Bora-like situation will be repeated.

Istanbul talks remained inconclusive.

Four days of talks between representatives of Pakistan and Afghanistan in Istanbul did not yield any concrete result. Earlier on October 19, both the countries had agreed on a temporary ceasefire in Doha, the capital of Qatar, but the talks held in Turkey failed. Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for the failure of the talks, alleging that Islamabad was not ready to stop violating Afghan airspace and stop the flights of US drones. The borders of both the countries have been closed for the last two weeks.

Pakistan attacked Afghan positions.

Tensions began earlier this month when Pakistan carried out airstrikes on several Taliban positions in Afghanistan, killing dozens of people. Afghanistan alleged that most of the casualties were civilians, prompting the Taliban to retaliate by attacking Pakistani military posts. The Taliban claim that 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed in this retaliatory attack. Over the past few weeks, a war of words has intensified between the two countries. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of harboring terrorists, while the Taliban says Pakistan is escalating tensions on the border to divert attention from its internal crises. Pakistani Defense Minister Asif recently said that if the Istanbul talks fail, it would mean "open war." He also alleged that "Afghanistan is acting at the behest of India."