Pakistan calls terrorism a 'red line' after Taliban say talks have failed

Pakistan said on Saturday that terrorism was a "red line" and that it reserved the right to take "all necessary measures", after Afghanistan's Taliban government said its efforts to hold talks with Islamabad had produced no results.

In a statement reported by The Express Tribune, Pakistan's Information Ministry said the country's security "will not be held hostage to Afghan Taliban's inaction" against militants operating from Afghan soil. It was responding to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who told Radio Azadi that mediators had failed and that Islamabad was not ready for dialogue.

State-run Radio Pakistan, citing security sources, said Pakistani forces destroyed Afghan Taliban posts near South Waziristan and Parachinar after what it called unprovoked firing at Angoor Adda, killing "several" Taliban fighters. Afghanistan's Defence Ministry has accused Pakistan of drone strikes in Paktika province. Neither side's claims could be independently verified.

The two neighbours have clashed repeatedly since a suicide attack in Pakistan on 18 September, followed by Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan; the UN mission in Afghanistan has said civilians, most of them children, were among those killed. Pakistan's military has accused India of helping militants, which the Taliban have rejected. In September India's Ministry of External Affairs condemned what it called Pakistani aggression against Afghanistan, and New Delhi has been restoring a full diplomatic mission in Kabul. The ministry had not commented on Saturday's exchange.