US has heard Pakistan's concerns on Afghan cross-border attacks, says Rubio

The United States does not want Pakistan to be a target of terrorist attacks and has heard Islamabad's concerns about strikes launched from Afghan soil, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Atlanta on 31 October.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, Rubio set out Pakistan's position that the Afghan Taliban have not done enough to stop cross-border attacks, and that Pakistan has carried out operations against militants in response. He said Washington would play a constructive role if there were room for one.

Rubio said the US has no especially close relationship with the Taliban and opposes terrorism regardless of where it originates or whom it targets, Independent Urdu reported.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have worsened since the Taliban returned to power five years ago. Pakistan has recorded a rise in militant attacks in its western provinces that border Afghanistan. Islamabad says Kabul has not acted against banned groups, a charge Afghanistan denies. Independent Urdu reported that the border between the two countries has been closed for more than a year and that tension has repeatedly escalated into armed clashes.

Talks in Doha on 18 and 19 October produced agreement on an immediate ceasefire after deadly border clashes, according to Independent Urdu. Meetings in Istanbul from 25 to 30 October were meant to consolidate that ceasefire and set up a monitoring and verification mechanism.

In Pakistan, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a statement on Saturday responding to a recent tweet by the Afghan Taliban's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid. The ministry said terrorism is a red line for Pakistan and that the security of its citizens is non-negotiable. It said the Taliban government's failure to stop terrorism from Afghan soil is the main obstacle to normal relations, and that Pakistan reserves the right to take all necessary measures under international law against threats to its national security, wherever they originate.

Independent Urdu reported that Mujahid had said earlier that Pakistan does not want to end tension with Afghanistan through negotiations. Aaj News reported that the Afghan Taliban have in the past rejected Pakistan's allegations of militants on their soil.

Aaj News also reported that Rubio said the US has not decided on new military strikes on Iran, that military action is being treated seriously, and that President Donald Trump prefers a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Iran.