Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to avoid any escalation in their armed conflict, during talks hosted by China in recent days, Beijing said Wednesday (April 8, 2026).

The neighbours and one-time allies have been locked in violent confrontation over claims from Islamabad that Afghanistan is harbouring militants responsible for cross-border attacks, which the Taliban government denies.

Seven militants belonging to the banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed during an intelligence-based operation in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army said on Sunday (September 21, 2025).

The operation was conducted on Saturday (September 20, 2025) in Dera Ismail Khan district bordering South Waziristan after the presence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants was reported.

Among the seven eliminated by the security forces, three were Afghan nationals and two suicide bombers, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, said in a statement.

Pakistan expects the interim Afghan government, run by the Afghan Taliban, to uphold its responsibilities and deny the use of its soil to carry out acts of terror, the statement added.

Earlier, on September 13-14, at least 31 TTP militants were killed in two separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week had said that Afghanistan must choose between siding with terrorists or standing with Pakistan.

Pakistan has lately been witnessing a rise in terrorist activities, mainly in provinces bordering Afghanistan.