Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said attacks on terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan could not be ruled out after today’s incidents in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At least 12 people were killed and 36 were injured in a suicide blast in the federal capital. The incident occurred as international events were being hosted in the capital, including the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference and the 6th Margalla Dialogue, while a cricket match between the Green shirts and Sri Lanka was also being held in Pindi.

Meanwhile, a clearance operation by security forces continues in Cadet College Wana in South Waziristan against terrorists hiding inside the educational institute.

When asked during an interview on Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ if Pakistan would respond after today’s attacks and statements from the leadership linking them to Afghanistan, Asif said: “God willing”, adding that attacks on terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan “could not be ruled out” and could definitely happen.

The defence minister added that Pakistan was “compelled” to act after today’s attacks.

The defence minister said that there should be no more illusions that the Afghan Taliban were sympathisers of Pakistan or were sincere in wanting peace. “Let’s not fool ourselves … there were three rounds of talks,” he said.

He elaborated that there was no united government in Kabul and instead it was composed of various groups and factions with different interests and agendas.

“Some are linked with India and some have their strings being pulled from elsewhere, so both of these incidents, I think, are a prelude to a coming aggression that could happen from the Afghan side, actually, it will be Indian aggression that is being waged in our country through the route of Afghanistan.”

“There should be no misunderstanding about this, it is absolutely clear-cut that the enmity of our neighbour has come out in the open,” he added, saying that Pakistan had asked only one thing of the Afghan Taliban during the dialogue process and nothing else: to prevent terrorism from Afghan soil.

“All these terrorists have come from there and their formations have penetrated into Pakistan over many months. They’ve been slowly stationing these groups here for the past year; they’ve sent around 2,500-3,000 people in the past year, and they’re present in various areas.”

“Pakistan doesn’t have training camps or their sanctuaries so they come here and live with someone in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. You cannot ignore another factor: that around 55 per cent of terrorists killed were Afghans, not Pakistanis. So how can you deny this reality?”

“We have the capacity, we can take care of them. But we don’t want to be bogged down in a war and for our attention to be diverted from our economic recovery and other issues. This is a natural wish of ours that we want peace in our country,” said Asif when asked about reports linking the terrorists involved in the Wana attack to Afghanistan.

“If they want to disturb our peace, then we will have to respond in kind to them, there should be no doubt about it.”

The minister added that Pakistan could not depend on verbal guarantees by the Afghan side, saying that no one trusted the word of Kabul’s rulers in the neighbouring country itself.

Questioned about action against terrorists, the defence minister said there was no uncertainty about the matter. He said when terrorist groups were encountered during their attempts to cross the border, they were often chased in “hot pursuit” into Afghan territory with “physical and aerial retaliation and we will intensify this in the coming period”.

Meanwhile, on the blast in New Delhi and the developing narrative from the Indian authorities on the situation, Asif said: “I won’t be surprised if in the next few hours or tomorrow India blames us for this.”

Despite this, the defence minister stressed: “I want to assure our eastern and western neighbours that Pakistan is not interested in fighting with them. We are passing through a phase where we are consolidating our economic gains and this is a critical issue for us that we are slowly opening our economic shackles.”

“During this period, it would be absolutely crazy for us to go somewhere and start engaging in terrorism. This is not in our interest, whether it is Pahalgam or Kabul or Delhi. This can never happen; logic cannot accept that we do such irresponsible adventures when the situation is in flux.”

However, he clarified that the stance did not mean that Pakistan would not respond to any aggression against it. “I assure India. Afghanistan and the international community that Pakistan will never initiate any adventure or war or support any terrorist activity directly or indirectly, but side-by-side, I will say that we will pay back in the same coin if we are targeted,” Asif declared.

He further added that any Indian adventure against Pakistan ahead of the second phase of the Bihar elections could not be ruled out, saying that there was a “stark possibility” of such a “drama” being staged.

The defence minister reiterated that Pakistan had not lowered its guard since the May conflict between the two countries and was still on high alert to repel any “adventure or military initiative by India”.