EU, UK envoys affirm Pakistan’s right to self-defense against TTP

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jun, 2026) In a significant development reinforcing Pakistan’s stance against cross-border terrorism, European Union Special Envoy Gilles Bertrand and United Kingdom Special Envoy Richard Lindsay have recognized Pakistan’s legitimate right to self-defense against imminent terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan, while blasting the Taliban regime’s failure to dismantle terrorist safe havens.

In separate interviews, EU Special Envoy Gilles Bertrand and UK Special Envoy Richard Lindsay reaffirmed that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a terrorist organization that continues to receive extensive cross-border support, financial assistance, weapons, and safe haven inside Afghanistan.

The envoys emphasized that the authorities currently exercising control in Kabul and Kandahar bear full responsibility for these activities and must take decisive action to prevent Afghan soil from being used against neighboring countries.

According to the details, the TTP utilizes training facilities, weapon flows, and safe sanctuaries within Afghanistan to evade security operations conducted by Pakistan, severely undermining regional peace and stability. When questioned about Pakistan’s military response against these threats, the diplomats unequivocally validated Pakistan’s position, stating that every state possesses an absolute right to self-defense if there is clear evidence of an active, reaching threat.

The international community’s frustration with the Taliban regime comes amid reports of their complete non-compliance with global security mandates. Under the Doha Agreement, the Taliban committed to denying sanctuary to terrorist groups and ensuring Afghan territory would not be used to launch attacks against other states.

<?php /*?> <?php */?>

However, nearly five years into their rule, the Taliban have violated virtually every major political, security, and governance commitment.

UN Security Council Monitoring Team reports have identified more than 20 terrorist organizations operating freely under the Taliban’s watch, with estimates ranging from 13,000 to 23,000 terrorist fighters—including the TTP, Al-Qaida, ISKP, ETIM, IMU, and Jamaat Ansarullah.

The Taliban’s counterterrorism narrative completely collapsed when Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was discovered and killed in a Taliban-controlled safe house in the heart of Kabul, proving that the world’s most wanted terrorists enjoy active sanctuary under the current regime.

Beyond exporting instability through the TTP, the Taliban regime has instituted a brutal domestic system of state-sponsored discrimination and repression. The regime has issued more than 230 decrees systematically stripping women and girls of fundamental human rights, creating what international experts describe as “gender apartheid.”

More than 2.2 million Afghan girls remain barred from secondary and higher education, while women face total restrictions on employment, movement, and public life.

This internal mismanagement has plunged the country into a severe humanitarian crisis, leaving 21 million Afghans in desperate need of assistance and nearly 65 percent of the population living in multidimensional poverty due to the regime’s exclusionary and ideological governance.