ISLAMABAD: A senior Taliban religious scholar, Sheikh Abdul Sami Ghaznavi,has openly called for jihad against Pakistan and other Muslim countriesgoverned by republican systems, declaring such forms of governmentincompatible with Islam.
In a video statement that has rapidly circulated on social media platforms,Sheikh Ghaznavi argued that permitting Islamic rituals within a state doesnot render it truly Islamic. He insisted that only the imposition of acomplete Islamic system, as opposed to a republican framework, meets thereligious criteria for legitimate governance in Muslim lands.
The cleric directly targeted Pakistan, describing its republican structureas a form of infidelity that necessitates armed resistance. “We are notfighting the Pakistani people, nor are we waging a national war,” heclarified. “Our fight is against the Republic, which we consider to beinfidelity. By fighting the Republic, we believe we are doing good for youand working to free you from it.”
Sheikh Ghaznavi drew a parallel between the Taliban’s past struggle againstthe Western-backed republican government in Kabul and the currentobligation to confront similar systems elsewhere. He warned that any Muslimwho now rejects the duty of jihad against Pakistan must, by the same logic,have rejected the legitimacy of the armed campaign that brought the Talibanto power in Afghanistan.
In an apparent criticism of the current Taliban leadership’s relativelyrestrained policy toward Islamabad, the scholar questioned the consistencyof those who supported jihad against the former Afghan republic buthesitate to extend the same principle to Pakistan.
Despite the sharp rhetoric, Sheikh Ghaznavi expressed gratitude to thepeople of Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghan refugees over the pastfive decades. He also claimed that Afghanistan’s victory over the SovietUnion in the 1980s spared the world, including Pakistan, Europe, and theUnited States, from the spread of communism.
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The statement comes at a time of heightened tension between Kabul andIslamabad, with Pakistan accusing the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuaryto the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has intensified attacksinside Pakistan. Analysts view the cleric’s remarks as reflecting ahardline ideological current within the Taliban movement that remainsopposed to any accommodation with neighbouring republican states.
Pakistani authorities have not yet issued an official response to thevideo, but security officials are reportedly monitoring its impact oncross-border militant narratives.
Source:https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2025/12/taliban-cleric-calls-for-jihad-against-pakistan.phpTags:Taliban, Pakistan, Jihad, TTP, Afghanistan, Islamism
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