Afghanistan Denies Visas To Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, ISI Chief Amid Escalating Conflict: Report

In a major setback to Pakistan's peace outreach to Afghanistan, the visas of Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, ISI chief Asim Malik, and two other Pakistani generals have reportedly been rejected, according to India Today.

Their visa requests were allegedly denied on three separate occasions over the past three days.

However, a senior Pakistani official has denied the Taliban’s claims that the Defence Minister, the intelligence chief and two generals were refused visas to visit Kabul. The official stated that no visa applications had been submitted and that only a proposal for a visit had been made.

Tensions between the two countries escalated following border clashes over the weekend, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of soldiers. This marks the most serious confrontation between Pakistan and Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021. At present, the exchange of fire has ceased.

Late on Saturday, Taliban forces reportedly attacked Pakistani military posts along the 2,600 km (1,600 mile) border, prompting retaliatory fire from Pakistani forces.

Gunfire, artillery shelling, and drone strikes continued into the early hours of Sunday. Pakistan claimed that 23 of its soldiers were killed, while the Taliban reported the deaths of nine of its fighters,although both sides claimed to have inflicted significantly higher casualties on the other.

What Triggered The Conflict?

Earlier last week, Pakistan carried out an air strike on the Afghan capital of Kabul last week, which targeted the head of the Pakistani Taliban militant group.The Taliban said its Saturday attack was in response to the violation of Afghan airspace.