Pakistan’s army says Afghan Taliban governor hosted militants plotting attacks

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s army on Thursday accused an Afghan Taliban governor of hosting senior figures from groups with different ideological objectives for talks on escalating attacks inside Pakistan.

Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said the meeting took place on Aug. 26 in Kandahar. He did not explain how Pakistani authorities learned of the alleged gathering or present evidence to support the claim.

An intelligence report seen by The Associated Press about the meeting identified Kandahar’s governor, Mullah Shireen, as the host and alleged that Afghan and Indian intelligence officials helped arrange the meeting.

Sharif said those represented included the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, an ethnic separatist group fighting for an independent Balochistan; al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, or AQIS, the global militant network’s South Asian affiliate; and the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, an independent Pakistani Islamist militant network rooted in North Waziristan.

Abdul Basit, a senior associate fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, expressed skepticism over the intelligence report’s claims. He said al-Qaida assists the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and that it and the BLA coordinate tactically.

“However, to suggest that Al-Qaeda, BLA and other Pakistani militant groups are working in a coordinated manner is far-fetched,” he added.

The Taliban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sharif's comments.

Asked about the intelligence report several days earlier, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid rejected its allegations and said Afghan authorities prohibit activities directed against Pakistan.

“Such rumors and propaganda are spread to distort perceptions and fuel a smear campaign against Afghanistan,” Mujahid said.

During a televised news conference, Sharif accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of “abetting and sponsoring terrorism” and said Pakistan would take the measures necessary to protect its citizens.

His remarks came hours after Pakistan said it had carried out airstrikes in two Afghan provinces . Kabul and the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan said the strikes in Helmand and Kunar provinces had killed at least 10 civilians, most of them children.

The strikes targeted militant hideouts at two locations, with initial reports indicating 22 militants had been killed, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said. It did not immediately comment on reports of civilian casualties, and its claim of militants killed could not immediately be independently verified.

The intelligence report on the alleged Kandahar meeting said BLA representatives told participants that Pakistani military operations had left the group short of fighters and resources. It alleged that Afghan intelligence officials assured them that militants associated with the TTP and AQIS would provide fighters, weapons and logistical support for attacks in Balochistan.

Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering militants responsible for cross-border attacks. The TTP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in 2021.

Pakistan has faced a surge in militant violence, much of it blamed on the TTP and Baloch separatists. Balochistan has endured a long-running insurgency by groups that accuse Pakistan of discriminating against the province and exploiting its natural resources.

The BLA has carried out deadly attacks across Pakistan. The U.S. State Department designated it a foreign terrorist organization last year. The group claimed responsibility for the March 2025 hijacking of a train in Balochistan in which 31 civilians were killed.

AQIS promotes al-Qaida’s transnational Islamist agenda, while the TTP and affiliated groups seek to impose their interpretation of Islamic law in Pakistan.

Castillo reported from Beijing