Explosions echoed across Kabul and the eastern province of Paktika on Thursday, October 9, 2025, sending shockwaves through South Asia’s already fraught diplomatic landscape. The blasts—confirmed by Taliban officials and widely reported by regional media—came at a moment of high diplomatic drama, coinciding with the arrival of the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in India for a landmark six-day visit. As accusations and denials flew between Islamabad and Kabul, the events underscored a dangerous new chapter in the region’s shifting alliances and deepening mistrust.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quick to address public concern. “An explosion was heard in Kabul city. But don’t worry, it’s all good and well. The accident is under investigation, and no injuries have been reported yet. So far, there is no report of any harm done,” he posted on X, downplaying the incident’s severity. Yet, by Friday, the Afghan Ministry of Defence had squarely blamed Pakistan for both the Kabul and Paktika blasts, though details remained scant. According to Al Jazeera, the ministry’s statement marked a sharp escalation in rhetoric, highlighting the growing fissures between the two neighbors.
Speculation quickly took off on social media and across news outlets. Many wondered whether the explosions were the result of Pakistani airstrikes targeting hideouts of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the militant group that Islamabad blames for a surge in attacks on its security forces. Some reports even suggested that senior TTP leaders, including the group’s chief, Noor Wali Mehsud, were the intended targets. However, Afghan officials and local media swiftly denied these claims, and an audio clip emerged in which Mehsud himself declared he was alive, accusing Pakistan of spreading false propaganda.
Pakistan’s official response was ambiguous. At a news conference on Friday, army spokesman Ahmad Sharif neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the blasts but issued a pointed warning: “Afghanistan is being used as a base of operations against Pakistan, and there is proof and evidence of that. The necessary measures that should be taken to protect the lives and property of the people of Pakistan will be taken and will continue to be taken.” This measured but menacing language reflected Islamabad’s growing frustration with cross-border militancy and its perception that the Taliban government is not doing enough to rein in the TTP.
The timing of the explosions was particularly noteworthy. As The New York Times reported, the blasts coincided with the highest-level diplomatic engagement between India and the Taliban in decades. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with Amir Khan Muttaqi, announcing that India would re-establish its embassy in Kabul and expand development aid, including shelters for refugees forcibly returned from Pakistan and Iran. While stopping short of formal recognition, the move marked a significant elevation of diplomatic ties—a development that has not gone unnoticed in Islamabad.
Pakistan has long accused India of supporting armed groups operating on its soil, a charge New Delhi denies. According to Pakistani officials, the TTP is planning renewed attacks from sanctuaries across the Afghan border, allegedly with Indian intelligence assistance. Afghan authorities, for their part, have consistently denied harboring TTP fighters or facilitating attacks on Pakistan. The current diplomatic overtures between India and the Taliban, therefore, are seen by many in Islamabad as a strategic setback and a potential threat to Pakistan’s security interests.
Recent years have seen a dramatic deterioration in Pakistan-Taliban relations. Once considered close allies—Islamabad was widely seen as a key backer of the Taliban during their insurgency against U.S.-backed forces—the two sides have grown increasingly suspicious of each other since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. This mistrust has been fueled by a bloody uptick in violence. According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), violence in Pakistan during the first three quarters of 2025 nearly matched the entire toll of 2024, with more than 600 TTP attacks recorded in the past year alone. In September 2025, at least 135 people were killed and 173 injured in violence linked to the TTP, as reported by the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project.
Pakistan’s leadership has responded with a mix of diplomatic outreach and tough rhetoric. After a particularly deadly series of attacks, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a stark ultimatum to the Taliban government: “Choose one of two paths. If they wish to establish relations with Pakistan with genuine goodwill, sincerity and honesty, we are ready for that. But if they choose to side with terrorists and support them, then we will have nothing to do with the Afghan interim government,” he warned on September 13, 2025. Defense Minister Khwaja Asif echoed these sentiments, accusing Afghanistan of enabling violence in Pakistan and lamenting the price paid for decades of hosting Afghan refugees. “We are paying the price of 60 years of hospitality to 6 million Afghan refugees with our blood,” Asif told parliament, according to Pakistani media.
Since November 2023, Pakistan has embarked on a mass expulsion campaign, forcing nearly a million Afghans—many of whom have lived in Pakistan for decades—to return home. This policy, while controversial, reflects the depth of Pakistani frustration and the sense that its generosity has not been reciprocated with security or goodwill.
The military dimension of the crisis cannot be ignored. Pakistan has previously conducted airstrikes inside Afghan territory, most recently in December 2024. If, as many analysts suspect, the latest explosions in Kabul and Paktika were the result of Pakistani action, this would represent a significant escalation. Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, Paktika’s director of information and culture, told The New York Times that a local bazaar in Barmal district was bombed late Thursday, leaving several shops partially destroyed but no fatalities. Security analysts like Tameem Bahiss warn that such cross-border strikes, far from solving the problem, risk deepening mistrust and making cooperation on counterterrorism even more difficult. “We’ve seen before those previous Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan yielded no concrete results. Instead, they only deepened mistrust and made cooperation on countering the TTP more difficult,” Bahiss told Al Jazeera.
If Pakistan continues to expand its strikes, there are fears this could backfire, potentially driving more Afghans to sympathize with the TTP or even support them, covertly or otherwise. Such sympathy could translate into new recruits, funding, and further instability on both sides of the border. Bahiss also cautioned that if TTP leaders are targeted in Kabul, the group may respond with even more aggressive attacks inside Pakistan, adapting its strategies to survive and retaliate.
Meanwhile, the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, sought to strike a conciliatory note during his visit to India. “We will not allow any group to threaten others from the Afghan soil,” he said, emphasizing the desire for balanced relations with both Pakistan and India. Yet, as observers note, the region’s loyalties are in flux, and old alliances are being tested as never before.
As the dust settles in Kabul and Paktika, the events of October 9–10, 2025, stand as a stark reminder of the volatility that continues to haunt South Asia. With diplomatic ties shifting, violence surging, and accusations flying, the path to peace and stability looks as uncertain as ever.