Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan does not want an armed conflict with Afghanistan, adding that “force was the last resort”, remarks that come as tensions escalated between the two neighbours.

In an interview with Voice of America published on Wednesday, the defence minister said Pakistan could block the corridor it provided to Afghanistan for trade with India, adding that it had the right to stop facilitating Kabul if it failed to curb anti-Pakistan terrorists operating on Afghan soil.

“If Afghanistan treats us like an enemy, then why should we give them a trade corridor?” Asif said.

His statement comes after Pakistan carried out intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations on March 18 in the border regions inside Afghanistan in response to multiple terrorist attacks in Pakistan which caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians and law enforcement officials.

The same day Afghanistan’s interim government said Pakistan carried out two air strikes in Afghan territory, claiming that those strikes killed five women and three children.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan does not allow anyone to compromise security by using Afghan territory,” Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Taliban administration, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Asif said a message needed to be sent that cross-border terrorism has grown too much, adding that Pakistan “wanted to convey to the de facto rulers in Kabul that we cannot continue like this.”

The minister hoped that Afghanistan would meet the “single demand” of reining in the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which will prevent the need for future military strikes from Pakistan.

“If they can harm us, then we’ll be forced to retaliate,” the defence minister said.

Pakistan has experienced a surge in terror attacks since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. On Wednesday, eight terrorists were shot dead by the security forces after they tried to attack the Gwadar Port Authority complex.