Former Ambassador of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Pakistan and Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef has described the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan as purely political, warning that Pakistan may attempt to manipulate Pashtuns into fighting India under the banner of jihad.
Taking to social media platform X, Zaeef stated: “This is a political war between Hindus and Punjabis and it has no religious dimension. Punjab will try to incite Pashtuns to fight against India in the name of jihad.”
He strongly cautioned Pashtun communities to remain detached from what he termed as “Pakistan’s political games” and urged them to protect themselves and their children from being used as pawns in a state-driven agenda.
“Pashtuns must distance themselves and their children from this Pakistani scheme,” he added.
Zaeef’s remarks came in the wake of a dramatic escalation in hostilities, with India launching heavy missile strikes on Tuesday night across multiple locations including areas near Kashmir, Punjab, and other major cities, just a few hundred kilometres from Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
According to the Pakistani military, six to seven sites in and around Pakistan-administered Kashmir were targeted, resulting in 26 civilian deaths and 46 injuries.
The statement from the former Taliban envoy has sparked debate in regional political circles and highlights growing concerns among Afghanistan’s Pashtun leadership about Pakistan’s potential mobilisation of ethnic fighters in its dispute with India.
Mullah Zaeef, who has previously been critical of Pakistan’s policies in the region, reiterated that any call to arms cloaked in religious language should be viewed with scepticism if it serves the political objectives of state actors.