بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Interests of Foreign Powers in the Ongoing Conflict Between Pakistan and Afghanistan
(Translated)
Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 622 - 21/10/2026
By: Ustadh Salah al-Din al-Uzbeki
On the Afghan-Pakistani border, the blood of innocent Muslims is once again being spilled due to the political machinations of the colonialists and the treachery of the regimes. According to a Reuters report published on 25 September 2026, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched brutal airstrikes targeting 10 sites inside Afghanistan the day before, marking the second bloody attack within four days. The Pakistani regime attempts to cover up these attacks by claiming they are “measures against drones and armed groups,” while Kabul denies sending any drones and confirms that civilians were targeted and killed. Behind the official statements of these regimes, innocent people in these two neighboring Muslim countries are losing their lives, their homes, and their security.
A prime example of this is the Kunar Massacre. Reuters reported on 21 September 2026 that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed the death of a man, a woman, and a girl as a result of the airstrikes. This means the violent consequences of these attacks, launched by the Islamabad regime, fall upon Muslim families. No matter how much regimes attempt to justify their heinous actions with the pretext of security, the spilling of innocent Muslim blood is a heinous crime in Shariah Law. Acting under the banner of the state or the guise of security will not save any ruler from the responsibility of unjustly shedding blood, nor from the punishment of Allah (swt).
Similarly, the issue of the Pakistani Taliban movement, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is cited as one of the core complications of this conflict, has been turned into a tool for fueling animosity between the two countries. A report by the U.S. Inspectors General for the first quarter (January–March) of 2026, based on a military intelligence assessment, stated that the Afghan Taliban’s harboring of the Pakistani Taliban and its failure to impose adequate restrictions on them contributes to the persistence of violence along the border. This is nothing but a political assessment issued from Washington. What is clearly evident from this picture is that the Pakistani regime is exerting military pressure on Kabul to cover up domestic instability within its own territories and to carry out America’s dictations, while the ambiguity in Kabul’s stance toward these groups forms a trap exploited to pit the two Muslim countries against each other.
Pakistan’s objective is to compel the Taliban government to submit to its conditions through military strikes and aggression. Negotiations, meanwhile, are intended to convert this pressure into political commitments. In a report published by Reuters on 28 October 2025, a Pakistani source accused Afghanistan of lacking the will to rein in the Pakistani Taliban movement, while an Afghan source stated that Kabul does not control this group. Thus, the issue of the armed group has become a cause for directing weapons between two Muslim countries and a subject of political bargaining between them.
The primary driver behind this strife is America, and this is clearly evident in official documents. The Pakistani Taliban movement was listed as an organization that must be fought through joint cooperation in the joint statement issued by the U.S.-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue, held in Washington on 4 August 2026. Discussions also took place on enhancing border security and cutting off support networks for armed groups. This is clear evidence that Pakistan’s security policy is being managed directly by America.
The aforementioned U.S. report reveals the true direction of this malicious policy with even greater clarity; it explicitly calls for maintaining the capability to conduct remote military operations inside Afghanistan, strengthening relations with the Pakistani military, and promoting U.S. hegemony objectives in South and Central Asia through proxies from outside the region. Washington’s sole priority is securing its colonial interests and its own security, even if it is at the expense of Muslim blood. Despite withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, it still retains the tools of control and the means to ignite discord among Muslims and fuel conflicts between them through its puppet regimes and military agreements.
This subservience does not stop there; it is also deeply rooted in the military-technical field. A joint statement by Powerus and Aureus Greenway on 18 September 2026 announced the receipt of an initial limited request from the Pakistani Ministry of Defense for the supply of drone systems and the provision of maintenance services for them. Memoranda of understanding for future cooperation were also signed, which linked their projects directly to obtaining the necessary approvals from America. This condition alone reveals the depth of subordination and agency within the Pakistani military; the operation of the weapons and technologies it possesses is contingent on American permission! The American supplier possesses the ability to revoke this permission at any time it wishes and dictate its terms to the Pakistani military leadership, steering it according to its whims.
The Qatari and Turkish mediation is merely a diplomatic facade for this conflict. A joint statement by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated 30 October 2025 stated that an agreement had been reached to establish a mechanism for monitoring the truce and imposing punitive measures on the violating party. Similarly, a Qatari statement dated 18 March 2026 reported an opportunity for a temporary Eid truce following a joint appeal with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia. However, these temporary truces were never intended to alter the policies of regimes that serve American interests, nor to touch the roots of colonialism. These diplomatic arenas, operating under direct American supervision, are exploited to implement American projects.
The executive role played by Qatar on behalf of America in the Afghan file has been officially confirmed. According to the U.S. report, the Afghan Affairs Division at the U.S. Embassy in Doha manages issues related to this country, while Qatar acts as the sponsor and representative of American interests in Afghanistan.
On the other hand, China exploits the instability among Muslims to serve its own interests. The joint statement issued by China and Pakistan on 5 January 2026 linked security cooperation to the protection of Chinese individuals, institutions, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The statement specifically referred to Gwadar Port, the Karakoram Highway, and industrial and mining projects. This document calls for taking strict, practical measures against armed groups in Afghanistan. For Beijing, what matters is not the blood of Muslims or their security, but rather the protection of its capital, investments, and trade routes. For this reason, it turns the Pakistani regime into a guardian for its investments.
Herein lies the bitter political truth of this conflict: the border disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan are not merely a security issue; rather, they are an incitement of Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan against one another, serving the interests of America and China! And whenever the rulers of Muslim lands entrust their security to external disbelieving powers, they only increase their submission and subservience to their conditions.
In this regard, it must be declared openly that Pakistan and Afghanistan are showing a lack of responsibility; Pakistan's leadership is sacrificing the blood of its people and the blood of the people of Afghanistan in service to the interests of America and China. And Kabul's leadership is incapable of prioritizing the interests of the Ummah and the security of innocents over its own narrow interests.
The Islamic solution does not lie merely in calling for a false truce or begging for sympathy from these regimes; rather, the only way to put an end to the shedding of Muslims' blood and to expel the colonialists from the region lies in the following:
- Rejecting artificial borders (the Durand Line) and sedition: The Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan are of one Ummah, and it is imperative to reject the subservient regimes and the artificial borders imposed by the colonialists that have turned them into enemies of one another.
- Ending foreign subordination: The Pakistan Army must immediately cease serving America and China, and direct its weapons and power to protect the Muslims.
- Establishing the Khilafah Rashidah (rightly-guided Caliphate): Establishing the Khilafah Rashidah, which unifies the military and economic power of the Muslims, dries up the American and Chinese roots in the region, and establishes a single state based on the Shariah rulings of Islam, is a Shariah obligation.
The military power of the Muslims must not be exploited for fighting amongst themselves, but must be directed against their enemies. The intellectual and political work to achieve this great objective—the establishment of the Islamic State—is a Shariah obligation upon the shoulders of the entire Ummah.