Tensions Spike Further As Pakistan Arrests TTP Militants Linked To Islamabad Blast ‘Confirming’ Afghan Link

As if the recent collapse of the peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan was not enough, that another development has emerged, which could play a spoilsport in their already tensed ties. In a major development coinciding with the collapse of their peace talks, it is learnt that Pakistan has arrested 4 involved in the suicide bombing in Islamabad earlier this week, who allegedly have Afghanistan links.

Pakistan on Friday (November 14, 2025) announced the arrest of four suspected terrorists allegedly involved in the deadly suicide bombing outside a district court in Islamabad earlier this week. The attack killed 12 people and wounded 28, rattling a capital city that has largely remained insulated from the wave of violence engulfing Pakistan’s northwest.

The suspects are believed to be members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned outfit that, while separate, maintains close ideological and operational ties with the Afghan Taliban.

Islamabad blast: What have investigators revealed?

According to Pakistan’s government, one of the arrested men, Sajid Ullah, played a key role in handling the explosive device used in the suicide attack. Investigators say that Ullah acted under the direction of Saeed-ur-Rehman, a TTP commander known as Daadullah, currently hiding in Afghanistan.

Daadullah coordinated the attack via Telegram, sending photographs of the Afghan suicide bomber, who hailed from Nangarhar province. Ullah was instructed to receive the bomber after he crossed into Pakistan and arrange accommodation near Islamabad. The explosive vest used in the blast was retrieved from a graveyard in Peshawar before being transported to the capital.

The arrests were made through a joint operation by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

How is the suicide blast linked to Pakistan–Afghanistan friction?

The announcement came just a day after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi explicitly alleged that Afghan nationals were involved in two major attacks this week – the Islamabad courthouse bombing; and a 20-hour gun battle at a cadet college in Wana, South Waziristan, in which 3 Pakistani soldiers lost their lives.

The remarks have further strained relations with Kabul, with Islamabad insisting that the Afghan Taliban are failing to curb TTP sanctuaries on Afghan soil, an issue at the heart of the deteriorating bilateral climate.

Pakistan-Afghanistan peace talks: Where do the efforts stand?

The arrests also come just days after Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed readiness to resume dialogue with the Afghan Taliban regime, urging Kabul to rein in the TTP. But talks have stalled despite mediation from Qatar and Turkey. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi reiterated that they has consistently attempted “positive engagement,” offering trade assistance, humanitarian aid, concessions for Afghan commerce.

However, he said Afghanistan’s Taliban government has responded with “hollow promises and inaction.”

Worth mentioning here is that Afghanistan’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday (November 13, 2025) accused Islamabad of repeated violations of Afghanistan’s airspace and sovereignty, bombing markets and civilian areas, conducting airstrikes near Kabul itself, trying to shift the blame for Pakistan’s internal security failures.

He said Afghanistan had been “forced to respond” after four years of what he described as escalating incursions.

How is Pakistan framing the refugee narrative?

In a sharp escalation, Andrabi accused Kabul of attempting to portray terrorists sheltered in Afghanistan as refugees, calling the narrative a “ploy” aimed at deflecting responsibility.

He warned that a faction within the Afghan Taliban, allegedly backed by “foreign monetary support”, is stoking tensions and eroding the goodwill Afghanistan once enjoyed among Pakistanis.

Kabul has yet to issue an official response to these claims.