Trump calls Pak-Afghan conflict ‘an easy one to solve’

As Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to extend their 48-hour ceasefire today, US President Donald Trump weighed in on the conflict, calling it “an easy one to resolve.”

“I do understand that Pakistan attacked or there is an attack going on with Afghanistan – that’s easy for me to solve if I have to solve it,” Trump said while responding to a reporter during a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

He said he enjoys resolving conflicts because he wants to prevent people from being killed and claimed he has “saved millions and millions of lives.”

“The Prime Minister of Pakistan said I saved tens of thousands of lives by interceding between Pakistan and India – it would have been a bad one, two nuclear nations,” he added, referring to this year’s May conflict between the two neighboring countries.

Read more: Pakistan, Afghanistan extend ceasefire till end of Doha talks

The US president’s statement came as Islamabad and Kabul mutually agreed to extend the temporary ceasefire until the conclusion of planned talks in Doha, according to three Pakistani security officials and an Afghan Taliban source.

Diplomatic sources confirmed that the ceasefire was extended at Kabul’s request after the first 48-hour ceasefire expired on Friday.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned that Pakistan will not tolerate terrorism sourced from Afghan soil and vowed that its perpetrators – “wherever they may be” – will pay a heavy price.

In a post on X, Asif said that despite Pakistan’s sacrifices and repeated efforts over the past five years, Kabul had “not responded positively” and had effectively become a “proxy for India.”

He claimed that the terrorism Pakistan is facing today was the result of the collaboration between India, elements in Afghanistan and the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“Kabul’s rulers – who now sit in India’s lap and are allegedly conspiring against Pakistan – were until recently under our protection and moved freely on our soil,” Asif said.

The minister said all Afghan nationals currently living in Pakistan must return to their homeland, claiming that Afghanistan now has its own government. He said Pakistan’s land and resources belonged to its 250 million citizens and “the time has come to end five decades of forced hospitality.”

He ruled out further diplomatic delegations to Kabul and warned that letters of protest or pleas for peace would no longer be Pakistan’s only response. “Any source of terrorism – wherever it may be – will have to pay a heavy price,” he said.

Also read: No more leeway for undocumented Afghan refugees: PM Shehbaz

A temporary ceasefire between the neighbors earlier this week brought a pause to days of fierce fighting that had killed dozens and wounded hundreds.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the clashes began on the night of 11-12 October when Afghan Taliban forces, “backed by Indian-sponsored elements of Fitna al-Khawarij”, launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistan along the border.

The ISPR said the Afghan Taliban “resorted to cowardly aggression” at four locations in Spin Boldak, which were “effectively repulsed” by Pakistani troops.

Read: Taliban regime not ‘true representatives’ of Afghan people: Foreign Office

“Eight positions, including six tanks, were destroyed in the effective but proportionate response,” the military statement said, adding that between 25 and 30 Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij militants were believed to have been killed.

This was told by security sources Express Pakinomist that Pakistani forces carried out precision strikes inside Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, targeting key Taliban strongholds.

“The attacks completely destroyed the Taliban’s No. 4 Battalion and No. 6 Frontier Brigade and killed dozens of foreign and Afghan militants,” an official said.

After the intense clashes, both sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire to allow space for dialogue and give the Taliban another opportunity to address Pakistan’s concerns.