
US President Donald Trump on Friday claimed he “loves” solving wars and further voiced confidence in resolving the ongoing conflicts involving Pakistan and Afghanistan, calling it an “easy one” to end.
During a bilateral lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House, Trump spoke on the current conflict involving Pakistan and Afghanistan, suggesting it could be resolved quickly under his leadership.
"I love solving wars... You know why? I like stopping people from being killed, and I've saved millions and millions of lives," he stated.
Trump claimed credit for defusing tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations, India and Pakistan. “I solved eight wars. Go to Rwanda and the Congo, talk about India and Pakistan... Look at all of the wars that we solved,” Trump said.
Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for helping to ease tensions between India and Pakistan, arguing that trade and tariffs played a key role in the U.S. preventing further conflict.
However, India has consistently rejected these claims, reaffirming its long-held stance that all issues with Pakistan, including those concerning Jammu and Kashmir, must be resolved bilaterally, without third-party involvement.
Turning to the ongoing war in Ukraine with Moscow, Trump expressed confidence in his ability to broker peace. “This will be number nine... We are going to have success with this (Ukraine) war,” he said.
Pakistan carried out air strikes inside Afghanistan late Friday, killing at least 10 people and breaking a ceasefire that had briefly calmed tensions along the border, Afghan officials told AFP.
The 48-hour truce had halted nearly a week of intense border clashes that left dozens of soldiers and civilians dead on both sides.
Pakistan's state-run media on Friday night reported that a high-level Pakistani delegation will travel to Qatar for talks with Afghanistan on Saturday. Pakistan TV gave no further details, however, AP reported.
In Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan earlier told reporters that he was not in a position to share any information about possible talks with Afghanistan, and that the ministry would issue a statement when any such talks happen.
Ali said Islamabad wants Kabul to keep anyone from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan and that Pakistan’s recent strikes were only aimed at targeting militant hideouts.
"Pakistan has broken the ceasefire and bombed three locations in Paktika" province, a senior Taliban official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Afghanistan will retaliate.”
At the core of the tensions are security concerns, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of sheltering militant groups, particularly the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, an allegation Kabul firmly denies.
The recent clashes between the two countries were the deadliest since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan following the collapse of the Western-backed government as US and NATO forces withdrew after 20 years of war.
On Friday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was informed that Pakistan had sent back 1.4 million Afghans under a phased plan that began in 2023, according to a government statement. It cited Sharif as saying that only Afghans with valid Pakistani visas would be allowed to stay in the country, AP reported.
(With inputs from agencies)
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