Pakistan harbouring ISIS terrorists? Taliban tears into Islamabad amid FM's India visit

Taliban spokesperson Zabeehullah Mujahid on Sunday urged Pakistan to expel ISIS terrorists "hiding on their soil", echoing India's long-term stance against Islamabad harbouring terrorists.

This follows Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's six-day diplomatic visit to India—the first senior Taliban minister to do so, since the group seized power in Afghanistan, four years back. However, India has not yet officially recognised the Taliban administration as the head of the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'—a name used by the group for the country.

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"Pakistan should expel the important ISIS members who are hiding there from its soil or hand them over to the Islamic Emirate," Mujahid said, claiming that Islamabad facilitated the training of these recruits by bringing them into the country via the Karachi and Islamabad airports.

This echoes India's stance on terrorism, especially after Operation Sindoor, which it declared was not over due to the May 10 ceasefire between the two nations, but merely paused.

However, Pakistan reportedly continues to rebuild terror training camps and recruitment centres in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) that had been destroyed after India's Operation Sindoor, with the help of the Pakistan Army and the ISI. The headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Muridke and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Bahawalpur were among the sites hit in India's precision strikes.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are currently locked in a fierce border clash that has reportedly killed at least 58 Pakistani soldiers, and left 30 others injured. 

The Taliban has attributed the clash to repeated violations of Afghanistan's territory and airspace. However, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed retaliation, promising a "strong and effective response", as per an AFP report.