Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Afghanistan has always supported terrorism, adding that placing further trust in the Afghan government would be a risk.

In a conversation with a private media channel, Asif said that Pakistan had made efforts to resolve issues with Afghanistan through dialogue but the pattern of the Kabul government made it difficult to rely on it. He said trusting the authorities in Kabul would be a major risk and that their conduct had not been acceptable in the past.

 

Meanwhile, China has stepped in diplomatically to reduce tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan as cross-border hostilities continue. 

 

According to a statement from Afghanistan’s foreign ministry, China’s special envoy for Afghanistan Yue Xiaoyong visited Kabul on Sunday and met acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

 

During the meeting, the Chinese envoy urged both sides to resolve disputes through dialogue and stressed the importance of preventing escalation for regional stability. The statement said Beijing remained in contact with both Kabul and Islamabad and supported resolving issues through diplomatic channels.

 

In North Waziristan, a child was killed and four people were injured after a mortar shell allegedly fired from the Afghan side landed in a residential area during an exchange of fire near the border on Sunday. Police said the incident took place around 7:30pm in the Ghulam Khan area when firing erupted between both sides.

 

Reports quoted police sources as saying that the mortar shell landed in the village of Golakhel and exploded in a residential locality. A minor died at the scene while four people sustained injuries. Residents shifted the injured to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Miranshah where they were receiving treatment.

 

Separately, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has said that 583 Afghan Taliban operatives had been killed and more than 795 injured during the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq launched in response to what Islamabad described as actions from across the Afghan border.

 

Providing an update at 4pm on Sunday, Tarar confirmed that security forces had destroyed 242 checkposts and captured and destroyed 38 others during the operation. He said 213 tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery guns had also been destroyed.

 

The minister added that 64 locations across Afghanistan had been targeted in air strikes as part of the campaign.

 

Separately, the Pakistan Army foiled an infiltration attempt near the Chaman sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, according to security sources cited by Radio Pakistan. Officials said a group of three to four militants attempted to breach the border fence but troops responded and targeted the group as they tried to cut the barrier.

 

During the exchange of fire, one militant was killed while the others fled in injured condition. Security officials said forces recovered four to five improvised explosive devices and fence-cutting equipment from the site.

 

Islamabad has long maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory, an allegation that Kabul has repeatedly denied. Tensions also surged after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year. 

 

Taliban forces subsequently targeted areas along Pakistan’s border, prompting Islamabad to respond with cross-border shelling. The exchanges caused casualties and infrastructure damage on both sides and led to the suspension of trade after border crossings were closed on October 12, 2025.