Afghan cleanup aborted after Qatar stepped in, reveals Dar

Says Pakistan possesses 'ample kinetic capabilities'; Rules out anti-Hamas mandate in Gaza stabilisation

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar revealed on Saturday that Islamabad held back from striking terrorist sanctuaries inside Afghanistan during a planned cleanup operation after a direct intervention by Qatar's leadership.

Dar said Islamabad was on the verge of launching a kinetic action that "would have surely taught them a lesson", but ultimately chose to pull back in favour of diplomacy at the request of the friendly Gulf nation.

Speaking at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said Afghanistan's rulers had misread Islamabad's restraint as incapacity, warning that Pakistan possessed "ample kinetic capabilities" but would not prefer "to invade a brotherly country".

"The situation was possibly leading to that stage when this issue began. Qatar is a country whose foreign ministry was contacting me hourly at that time," he said, adding that Qatar's prime and foreign minister called him "every hour".

"They found out that we were about to take kinetic action. They requested that 'please stop your side and we will mediate, take responsibility and get the issue resolved.'"

Dar thanked the prime minister and army chief for endorsing his position, saying, "the cleanup operation that was about to happen that night - that would have surely taught them a lesson - was stopped".

Despite Qatar and Turkiye's efforts, nothing tangible emerged from talks, leaving even the mediators "frustrated", he added.

The revelations come as ties between Islamabad and Kabul's Taliban regime have sunk to their lowest level since the group seized Kabul four years ago.

All formal border crossings have stayed sealed since October 11, halting cross-border commerce and mobility after a series of ground engagements and Pakistani aerial strikes along the 2,600-kilometre boundary against the terrorist sanctuaries responsible for the recent rise in terror activities in Pakistan.

In the aftermath, diplomatic triage was attempted by Turkiye and Qatar. The first Doha engagement yielded a tenuous ceasefire, whereas the subsequent round in the Qatari capital resulted merely in a broad pledge to create a mechanism for "verifying compliance" and a decision to persevere with dialogue. However, the third sitting sputtered out without any breakthrough after the regime's representatives remained obdurate.

Tensions escalated once again after Kabul levelled allegations of fresh Pakistani aerial attacks earlier this week, accusations vehemently denied by Pakistan's security establishment and government ministers.

Referring to attacks carried out by Afghan nationals, including the killing of two US National Guards and assaults on Chinese workers in Tajikistan, Dar, speaking at Saturday's presser, warned, "the time is not far when Muslims and non-Muslims will unite to eliminate this terrorism".

He urged the Taliban to recognise internal divisions between "peacemakers and warmongers" and reform before the region is forced into harsher solutions.

He also said he was working on a UN request to resume humanitarian aid deliveries into Afghanistan, and had secured the army chief's consent, with only the prime minister's formal approval remaining.

'No anti-Hamas mandate'

Commenting on the proposed multinational Gaza peacekeeping mission, the foreign minister revealed that Pakistan was willing to send troops but rejected any involvement in disarming Hamas.

He said that Pakistan first encountered the disarmament proposal during talks on the two-state solution in Riyadh.

"We are not ready for that. This is not our job, but of the Palestinian law enforcement agencies. Our job is peacekeeping, not peace enforcement," he stressed.

He added that Pakistan had already conveyed its willingness to join the mission "in principle", pending clarity on "what its [ISF] mandate and TOR (terms of reference) will be".

Furthermore, he revealed that concerns over the ISF mandate were not exclusive to Islamabad.

"As per my information, if it will include disarming Hamas, then even my Indonesian counterpart has informally expressed his reservation," he said, adding that Indonesia had offered as many as 20,000 troops for the mission.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also "in principle" signalled a positive response to Pakistan's participation.

It is pertinent to note that the proposal for Pakistan to be involved in disarming Hamas has already ignited domestic controversy. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif last month publicly denounced remarks by government spokesperson Danyal Chaudhry, who had hinted that the ISF would have a disarmament role.

Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan's envoy to the United Nations, reiterated at the Security Council that disarmament must be "a negotiated political process" undertaken under a unified Palestinian National Authority, and that any foreign force must operate under a "clear UN-consistent mandate".

Visa issues with UAE

Discussing the European Union's Biennial Review of the GSP+ scheme, Dar said "nearly all of our matters have been satisfactorily handled," with only six items pending.

He hoped that three legislative measures would be passed in the current parliamentary session. He said he was confident the visiting EU delegation would "give a very positive report" and expressed optimism about the review's outcome.

Dar also acknowledged growing difficulties Pakistanis face obtaining UAE visas, stressing that Islamabad had repeatedly flagged concerns.

"We are not sleeping. This issue has been raised many times. They've also shown evidence that of the different nationalities involved in crime in the UAE, Pakistanis are at the top, unfortunately."

He revealed that visa restrictions had at one point extended to officials and ministers.

He cited mass offloading incidents and the persistence of organised begging networks involving Pakistanis in Gulf states as causes of Emirati displeasure.

"Issues will not be resolved until the above matters are tackled and eliminated," he warned.