Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday warned that his country could “completely obliterate" Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban if provoked, in one of Islamabad’s strongest statements yet amid worsening tensions between the two neighbours.

“Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding," Asif wrote on X.

His warning came just hours after peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan collapsed in Istanbul. The negotiations, brokered by Turkey and Qatar, had aimed to secure a lasting truce following the deadliest border clashes in years, which left more than 70 people dead and hundreds injured earlier this month.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed

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