Al-Qaeda issues strong anti-Pakistan statement, pledges support to Afghan Taliban

Terror outfit Al-Qaeda’s central leadership has issued a strongly worded statement against the Pakistani state, and pledging what it described as “unwavering" support to the Afghan Taliban.

The statement, reported by CNN-News18, and circulated through the Taliban's official media channel, The Al-Sahab Foundation, comes at a time when tensions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border are already running high.

In a statement widely circulated on social media, the group alleges that Pakistan is acting on instructions from the United States and says it will continue to support and defend the Afghan government across all fronts.

It further claims that the Afghan administration represents the only legitimate Islamic system, saying that the hopes of oppressed Muslims around the world are tied to it. According to the statement, global powers have refused to recognise it and are instead trying to isolate and weaken it through allied groups and proxy networks.

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Relations between the two countries have been bitter over the past few months and deteriorated further on Monday after the Taliban government accused Pakistan of launching mortar and rocket fire into Afghan territory, an incident it said killed four people and injured around 70 others.

At the same time, the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has seen intensified fighting between security forces on both sides. Kabul has accused Islamabad of carrying out “indiscriminate shelling” across the border, while Pakistan maintains that its operations are directed at militant hideouts linked to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).