Will obliterate Afghan Taliban & push them back to caves: Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif Wednesday threatened to "obliterate" the Afghan Taliban and push them back to the caves in case of any future terror attack in his country, as relations between the two neighbouring nations hit rock bottom after peace talks failed. Asif issued the warning on social media soon after the four-day peace negotiations in Istanbul failed to yield any result regarding Pakistan's main demand that the Taliban should take action against militants using Afghanistan's soil for militancy in Pakistan. Asif said that Pakistan indulged in talks to give peace a chance, but "venomous statements by certain Afghan officials clearly reflect the devious mindset of the Taliban regime".

"Let me assure them Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime," he said on X.