Former US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has informed Taliban leaders that Pakistan prevented President Donald Trump from recognizing the Taliban regime in Kabul, according to Taliban sources in Kabul. Khalilzad reportedly stated that meetings with Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif led the Pakistani officials to present a negative view of the Taliban to Trump, causing him to withdraw support for recognition. These claims were made by Taliban sources over the past hour. Taliban sources further allege that Khalilzad told Taliban leaders that Pakistan is pursuing an "anti-Taliban" agenda with the United States, using the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) as a pretext for its actions against the government in Kabul. This development follows recent border clashes and Pakistani military strikes in Afghanistan. Previous reports from October 16th, 2025, indicated that the Pakistani military denied targeting Afghan official Abdul Haq Wasiq in its strikes, stating that known safe houses of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group were the intended targets. The Pakistani military identified the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group as a terrorist organization aligned with the TTP and al-Qaeda, and responsible for the deaths of Pakistani troops.
