‘I am doing another one’: Trump turns his attention towards Pakistan-Afghanistan as tensions escalate

Amid escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, US President Donald Trump said he’s “doing another one” – meaning that he is ending another war. He said he has ended eight wars since, including the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

"This will be my eighth war that I have solved," Trump said. "And I hear there is a war now going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I said, I’ll have to wait till I get back. I am doing another one. Because I am good at solving wars," he said.

He again mentioned ending the India-Pakistan conflict, something New Delhi has denied, stating that no third party was involved in the negotiations. "I settled a few of the wars just based on tariffs," he said. "For example, between India and Pakistan, I said, if you guys want to fight a war and you have nuclear weapons, I am going to put big tariffs on you both – 100 per cent, 150 per cent, 200 per cent. I said I am putting tariffs, and I had that thing settled in 24 hours. If I didn’t have tariffs, you could have never settled that war," he said.

Trump, who had frequently repeated that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, said he didn’t do it for the coveted award but to save lives. "It’s an honour to do it. I saved millions of lives. In all fairness to the Nobel Committee, it was for 2024, but there are those who say you could make an exception because a lot of things happened in 2025 that are done and complete and great. But I did not do this for the Nobel. I did this for saving lives,” he said, after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuela’s pro-democracy activist and politician, María Corina Machado.

WHAT’S HAPPENING BETWEEN PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN?

Fighting erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border after Pakistani airstrikes targeted locations in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan, according to security officials and the Taliban. The escalation led to retaliatory attacks by Afghan Taliban forces, resulting in exchanges at several locations along the disputed Durand Line. Both nations claimed to have destroyed each other's border posts, and video footage released by Pakistani officials showed heavy shelling lighting up the night sky.

The violence resulted in both sides reporting casualties. The Pakistan military stated that 23 of its soldiers were killed, while the Taliban reported nine casualties. Pakistan said it had killed more than 200 Afghan Taliban and allied fighters, while Afghanistan said it had killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.

As tensions escalated, Pakistan closed all major crossings along its 2,600-kilometre border with Afghanistan, including the main points at Torkham and Chaman, as well as minor crossings at Kharlachi, Angoor Adda, and Ghulam Khan. Local officials reported the closures on Sunday. Intermittent gunfire continued in Pakistan's Kurram area, though officials said exchanges were mostly over by Sunday morning.

The escalation follows Islamabad's demands for the Taliban to take action against militants who have increased attacks in Pakistan, allegedly operating from Afghan territory. Pakistani officials said they were responding "with full force" to what they called unprovoked firing from Afghanistan.

The Taliban administration said attacks had been halted at the request of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, following international calls for restraint.