Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday threatened to “obliterate” the Afghan Taliban and push them back to the caves in case of any future terror attack in his country, as ties between the two neighbours hit rock bottom after peace talks failed.

Asif issued the warning on social media soon after the four-day peace talks in Istanbul failed to yield any result regarding Pakistan’s main demand that the Taliban should take action against militants using Afghanistan’s soil for militancy in Pakistan. Asif said that on the request of brotherly countries, Pakistan indulged in talks to give peace a chance, but “venomous statements by certain Afghan officials clearly reflect the devious and splintered mindset of the Taliban regime”.