A Aslam Awan
In regional politics, lies have long been an old weapon, but some governments use this weapon with such ruthlessness and dishonesty that even truth is left astonished. The allegation by Afghanistan’s current interim government that Pakistan carried out an airstrike in Khost is the latest link in this very chain. With no evidence, no coordinates, no independent observers and no record of casualties, just a single tweet, a few propaganda accounts, and old edited images circulating on social media. Is this the true face of Kabul’s foreign policy?
The problem for Afghanistan is not that it does not know the truth; the real issue is that truth is the death of its narrative. The Khost-Barmal region has for years been a graveyard for internal clashes among Taliban factions, rivalries between TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and skirmishes among various foreign militant groups. Explosions are nothing new; most of them occur inside the safe houses of these very groups due to accidental blasts or internal disputes. But Afghanistan is never willing to admit that extremist groups roam freely across its soil. Instead, it has an easier solution: blame Pakistan for every incident because Pakistan is seen as the easiest target for their lies. However, Kabul’s panic this time is unusually intense, and the reason is that Afghan citizens have already been proven involved in the Islamabad Judicial Complex attack, the Wana Cadet College incident and the Peshawar bombing. These are facts Kabul cannot deny and cannot swallow. Pakistan’s legitimate right to self-defence is weighing heavily on Kabul’s nerves, and it is this fear that has prompted such a crude and baseless allegation.
Pakistan has always accepted responsibility for its counterterrorism actions. We are not a state that attacks from behind a curtain or lies to the world. When Pakistan conducts an operation, the world witnesses it, and Kabul has witnessed it too, with the events of October standing as clear evidence. In contrast, the “evidence” presented by Afghanistan consists of the same old edited images, or photographs stolen from the conflict archives of Syria and Gaza, which are then circulated by Afghan propaganda accounts. The real question is whether Kabul genuinely does not know that Khost-Barmal is not a civilian area. The correct answer is that this is the very belt listed in UN Monitoring Reports as a route, sanctuary cluster and logistical network for TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. The houses Kabul calls “civilian homes” are the very places from which attacks on Pakistan are planned, where explosive materials are prepared and where suicide jackets are stitched. But Kabul wants to hide these houses, which is why it always rejects Pakistan’s repeated offer of a Joint Verification Team. Because Kabul knows that once verification takes place, its lies will collapse, and without lies, its diplomatic survival becomes impossible.
Afghanistan’s accusations always follow a specific pattern, a deliberate design. And once again, India’s propaganda network instantly amplified this narrative. The harmony between India and Kabul is no secret; both find it necessary to accuse Pakistan of their own interests. But the truth is that these propaganda campaigns aim only to divert global attention from the fact that Afghan soil still remains a safe haven for Pakistan-focused terrorist organisations.
Kabul is currently under significant international diplomatic pressure. Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran are actively working to reduce mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan. But Kabul does not want the international community to point fingers at the terrorist networks operating on its soil. To ease this pressure, it has attempted to manufacture an artificial crisis. Yet this attempt is so weak, so baseless, and so childish that instead of fooling the world, it has further exposed Kabul’s own vulnerabilities. For Pakistan, the issue is not the Afghan people but a government that is frightened of its own shadow and tries to hide its incompetence by blaming Pakistan for every wrongdoing. If Kabul genuinely desires regional peace, it must adopt some fundamental steps: dismantle TTP and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar safe havens; end the patronage of Afghan suicide bombers; prevent its soil from being used against Pakistan; and above all, abandon its habit of levelling baseless accusations against Pakistan after every incident.
The path forward is clear: joint verification, a joint counterterrorism mechanism and written guarantees for the elimination of terrorist networks. If Kabul does not adopt these measures, its false accusations, tweets and propaganda videos will neither stop Pakistan nor rescue Afghanistan’s deteriorating credibility. The world today demands evidence, not statements, and Kabul has zero evidence. What it does have is an endless chain of lies.
The writer is a freelance columnist.
