Berk Kutay Gokmen
13 October 2025•Update: 13 October 2025
ISTANBUL
US President Donald Trump pledged Sunday to solve the latest escalation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, claiming that he is good at solving wars.
“This will be my eighth war that I've solved, and I hear there's a war now going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One while en route to Israel.
“I said I'll have to wait till I get back. I'm doing another one. Because I'm good at solving wars, I'm good at making peace, and it's an honor to do it. I saved millions of lives, millions of lives,” he added.
Dozens of soldiers were killed in overnight clashes between Pakistani and Afghan troops, some of the deadliest between the two sides since the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan in 2021, the two sides confirmed Sunday.
The latest escalation came after Afghanistan’s interim Taliban administration claimed that the Pakistani military violated the country’s airspace and bombed a market in the Margha region of Paktika province bordering Pakistan on Thursday night.
On Monday, Trump will land in Israel, where he is expected to meet with families of Israeli captives and address the Knesset, or parliament.
He will later head to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he will join world leaders at the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit on Monday.
The summit, co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, aims “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability,” according to Cairo.
