US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the United States does not want Pakistan to be targeted by terrorism. He acknowledged Islamabad’s position that attacks on Pakistan are being launched from Afghan territory.
Rubio spoke in Atlanta on Saturday, at the close of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting hosted by the United States.
“Pakistan is concerned about terrorist attacks that are being sponsored from the territory of Afghanistan,” he said. He said Pakistan’s view was that the Afghan Taliban government had not done enough to stop those attacks, and that Pakistan had taken action in response.
“We’ve heard the concerns that Pakistan has raised, and we’ve seen some of those attacks that they point to. We’re against terrorism, no matter where it emanates from and who it targets,” Rubio said.
His remarks fell on the same day Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected claims by Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman of the Taliban administration in Kabul, that Islamabad was unwilling to resolve differences through dialogue. The ministry said Kabul’s failure to act against terrorism from Afghan soil is the main obstacle to normal relations. It also said Pakistan reserves the right to take all necessary measures, in line with international law, against threats to its security wherever they originate.
Pakistan has carried out strikes on terrorist hideouts in the Afghan border region since September. These followed a deadly attack on a police compound in Kohat and drone incursions from Afghanistan. Islamabad’s central demand is verifiable action against groups operating from Afghan territory, chief among them the banned Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which the state designates Fitna al Khawarij.
The Taliban administration denies allowing militants to use Afghan territory for attacks on Pakistan.
Rubio has engaged with the issue before. In a call with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in April 2025, he agreed on the need to resolve the question of US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Office. Islamabad has repeatedly said such weapons have reached terrorist groups that attack Pakistan.
