LeT Commander Issues Ultimatum to Taliban, Backs Pakistan’s New Defence Chief
LeT leader openly backs Gen Asim Munir, vows jihad alongside Pak Army.
In an unprecedented public video statement, senior Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Qari Yaqoob Sheikh, a trusted lieutenant of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, has openly endorsed Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir’s new designation as the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces while issuing a chilling ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Kabul.
Sheikh showered praise on General Munir, claiming the army chief’s recent decisions have restored “trust and respect” among religious scholars across Pakistan. He welcomed the joint fatwa issued by clerics from Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir and Afghanistan that declared the use of Afghan soil for attacks against any neighbour as un-Islamic, describing it as a landmark religious decree that strengthens Islamabad’s position.
The LeT leader reminded Afghanistan of Pakistan’s decades-long hospitality toward millions of Afghan refugees and asserted that Islamabad has always treated Kabul as a “brother Islamic nation.” However, he demanded an immediate, unambiguous public declaration from the Taliban leadership that no bullet would ever be fired toward Pakistan from Afghan territory.
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Failure to provide such assurance, Sheikh warned, would leave terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba with no option but to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the Pakistan Army in defence of the country. The thinly veiled threat of cross-border jihad comes at a time when relations between Islamabad and Kabul have hit rock bottom over the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sanctuary issue.
The statement follows renewed border violence last week that killed five Afghan civilians and wounded several others on both sides, shattering a fragile two-month ceasefire. The escalation began after October bombings in Kabul that the Taliban blamed on Pakistan, triggering weeks of deadly clashes that claimed dozens of lives and deepened the crisis between the two neighbours. With Lashkar-e-Taiba now openly aligning itself with Pakistan’s military posture, fears of a wider proxy conflict along the Durand Line have intensified.
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