• Fighting continues as Pakistan, Afghanistan enter in “open war”.
• Trump stresses he has “very good relations” with Pakistan.
• President says he has a lot of respect for PM Shehbaz, CDF Munir.
  

As hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan continue along the border, United States President Donald Trump has said that Washington will not intervene in a possible conflict between Islamabad and Kabul.

Trump said he could step in but stressed that he has “very good relations” with Pakistan.

He further said Pakistan has a great prime minister and a great military leader, adding that they are two people I have a lot of respect for.

The neighbouring countries entered an “open war” after Pakistan retaliated with full force after the Taliban regime resorted to unprovoked firing along multiple sectors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), including Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram, and Bajaur on Thursday night.

In their retaliatory attacks named Operation Ghazab lil-Haq (Righteous Fury), Pakistan’s armed forces destroyed several key Afghan Taliban posts, while the PAF conducted strikes in Kandahar, Kabul, and Paktia, causing heavy losses on the Afghan side.

As many as 12 security personnel embraced martyrdom and 27 sustained injuries during the retaliatory response, while 331 Afghan Taliban have been killed so far, as per Pakistani authorities.

The US president, who has repeatedly boasted about ending several wars across the globe, said on Friday that he would not step into the latest ongoing conflict when asked whether the United States would intervene.

Trump said he could step in but stressed that he has “very good relations” with Pakistan. He talked highly of the Pakistani leadership.

“Well, I would (intervene), but I get along with Pakistan, as you know, very well. Very, very well. You have a great Prime Minister, you have a great general there, you have a great leader, two of the people that I really respect a lot,” he told reporters.

He further said he believes Pakistan is moving forward very strongly, signalling that Washington does not intend to interfere.

US supports Pakistan’s ‘right to defend’

The US said it supported Pakistan’s “right to defend itself” against attacks from the Taliban regime after Islamabad said earlier that the neighbouring countries were in “open war.”

Afghanistan’s rulers had said on Friday they were willing to negotiate after Pakistan bombed their forces in major cities.

“The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks from the Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group,” a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The State Department spokesperson said Washington was aware of the escalation in tensions and “outbreak of fighting between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban,” adding the US was “saddened by the loss of life.”

“The Taliban have consistently failed to uphold their counterterrorism commitments,” the State Department said, adding that “terrorist groups use Afghanistan as a launching pad for their heinous attacks”.

The recent escalation of tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan follows Pakistan’s retaliatory actions in response to suicide bombings in Islamabad, Bajaur, and Bannu, all of which were traced back to militants based in Afghanistan.

Islamabad, which has repeatedly urged Kabul to prevent its soil from being used by terrorist organisations to carry out attacks, conducted intelligence-based strikes targeting seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Fitna al Khawarij (FAK) — a term used for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — its affiliates and the Daesh-Khorasan, along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last week.

Prime Minister’s spokesperson for Foreign Media, Mosharraf Zaidi, has said Afghan Taliban authorities had allowed militant groups to operate from their soil by providing what he described as safe havens.

Talking to the foreign media on Friday, he argued that the alleged patronage of such groups by Taliban leadership constituted a breach of commitments made under the Doha Agreement.

The two countries agreed to a ceasefire in October 2025 when the Afghan Taliban regime opened unprovoked gunfire at several border points.

The Afghan forces’ firing was aimed at helping Khawarij formations cross the border into Pakistan.

Islamabad, however, back then had agreed to an initial ceasefire at Kabul’s request. The countries then later reached a ceasefire deal in Qatar, which was mediated by Doha and Turkiye.

Under the agreement, terrorism from Afghanistan on Pakistani soil was to be stopped immediately.

The two sides then further held follow-up discussions in Turkiye which did not deliver the desired results due to stubbornness from the Afghan side, as Kabul used the Istanbul talks to malign Pakistan rather than address Islamabad’s core concern of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.

DUBAI: Dubai Police have seized several motorbikes after groups of young riders were reported performing dangerous stunts and causing disturbance in residential neighbourhoods following iftar during Ramadan.

Authorities said residents complained about loud noise, reckless riding and youths using motorbikes and quad bikes to carry out risky manoeuvres on public roads.

Police summoned the parents of the minors involved and took legal action, stressing that such behaviour poses a serious risk not only to the riders themselves but also to other road users and pedestrians.

“Reckless driving and stunts endanger lives and disturb community safety,” Dubai Police said, urging the public to report similar violations through the 901 helpline or via the Dubai Police mobile app.

A video shared by Dubai Police on social media showed some of the confiscated bikes and officers addressing the issue as part of ongoing efforts to ensure road safety during the holy month.

• Canadian PM to address finance leaders before meeting Indian PM.
• Carney wants more than double two-way trade with India by 2030.
• India hopes Canada to support to expand nuclear power capacity.
  

Canada PM begins key India visit, seeking to boost trade

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney landed in India on Friday for a visit he hopes would reset ties and double trade, offsetting the damage from his country’s fracturing relations with the United States.

Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi of orchestrating a deadly campaign against Sikh activists in Canada.

He arrived in the financial hub of Mumbai, where he is expected to address business leaders before travelling to the capital and meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the final day of his visit.

Indian broadcasters showed a police convoy as Carney was whisked through Mumbai.

Carney’s office said discussions would focus on “ambitious new partnerships in trade, energy, technology and artificial intelligence (AI), talent and culture, and defence”.

Last year, the two countries agreed to resume negotiations on a proposed free-trade agreement.

Carney has said he wanted to more than double two-way trade with India by 2030, eyeing an annual target of $51 billion.

Before Carney took office last year, Ottawa accused Modi’s government of direct involvement in the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalised Canadian citizen who was part of a fringe group that advocated for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan.

Khalistan members have been blamed for the assassination of an Indian prime minister and the bombing of a passenger jet.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government further alleged India had directed a campaign of intimidation against Sikh activists across Canada.

India has repeatedly dismissed the allegations, which sent diplomatic relations into freefall, with both nations expelling a string of top diplomats in 2024.

Ties improved after Carney took office in March 2025, and envoys have since been restored.

Asked whether Canadian concerns about transnational repression would feature at the New Delhi talks, Foreign Minister Anita Anand told reporters: “That is always at the forefront of our minds.”