Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F), has called on Pakistan to adopt a more conciliatory approach toward Afghanistan, arguing that regional stability depends on constructive engagement rather than confrontation.

Addressing Pakistan’s parliament, Fazlur Rehman said Islamabad should apply the same diplomatic principles to Afghanistan that it advocates in other regional disputes. Referring to efforts aimed at preventing conflict between the United States and Iran, he argued that Pakistan should similarly seek dialogue and reconciliation with its western neighbor.

“If we support mediation and reconciliation between the United States and Iran to prevent war in the region, then the same policy should be pursued with Afghanistan,” he said.

The veteran politician criticized security strategies centered on military action, questioning whether airstrikes and cross-Durand Line operations inside Afghanistan had succeeded in reducing militant attacks within Pakistan. He urged policymakers to reassess existing approaches and place greater emphasis on promoting stability in Afghanistan.

According to Fazlur Rehman, a stable Afghanistan is not only in the interest of Afghans but is also a strategic necessity for Pakistan’s own security. He warned that continued instability across the border would have repercussions for the wider region.

The JUI-F leader also highlighted what he described as Afghanistan’s historical support for Pakistan during critical periods, including the 1965 war with India.

Fazlur Rehman noted that Pakistan currently faces security challenges on multiple fronts and said stronger cooperation with Afghanistan could help ease those pressures while contributing to broader regional stability.

His remarks come amid ongoing tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over security concerns, Durand Line management, and militant activity, issues that have strained relations between the two neighboring countries in recent years.

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber crashed on takeoff on Monday at Edwards Air Force Base in ‌Southern California’s Mojave Desert, bursting into flames and killing all eight crew members aboard, Air Force officials said.

The eight-engine, jet-powered aircraft, built to carry a wide array of nuclear and conventional bombs, was on a routine test mission when it crashed on the runway at Edwards just after leaving the ground, Air Force Colonel James Hayes said ​at a press conference hours later, Reuters reported.

A towering pall of black smoke billowing from the crash site was visible for miles immediately ​after the accident.

He said the “mixed crew” aboard the aircraft consisted of government civilians, government contractors and uniformed military personnel. ⁠Aerospace giant Boeing, which designed and built the plane, said two of its employees were among the dead.

The flight was intended to support ​a radar modernization program, Hayes told reporters. The cause of the crash was unknown and under investigation, he added.

Air Force officials did not name the ​victims, saying they were still in the process of notifying their next of kin.

Aerial video footage of the crash scene, about 100 miles (161 km) north of Los Angeles, showed a charred, smoldering patch of the desert floor larger than a football field as an emergency vehicle was seen driving along the site’s perimeter. From a distance, ​there were no large pieces of debris readily visible in the footage.

Hayes said the crash was quickly “deemed to be unsurvivable.”

Because of damage to the ​runway, he said, “we’re grounding all operations at Edwards Air Force Base” through at least Tuesday, adding that no operations beyond the base would be suspended.

Edwards, a sprawling ‌test ⁠flight facility established in the 1930s around a dry lake bed, occupies about 481 square miles (1,245 square km) of the Mojave desert, making it the Air Force’s largest airfield.

Its experimental aviation legacy includes the flight by Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1 aircraft that broke the sound barrier in 1947, test flights of the X-15 aircraft and the first landings of NASA’s space shuttles.

BACKBONE OF BOMBER FORCE

The B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range, subsonic aircraft built ​to carry up to 70,000 pounds (31,750 ​kg) of weapons and supplies, has ⁠long served as the backbone of the U.S. crewed strategic bomber force, according to the military.

The swept-wing aircraft is capable of unleashing the widest range of weapons in the U.S. inventory, from cluster bombs and gravity ​bombs to precision-guided missiles and nuclear warheads, at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet (15,166 m), according to an ​Air Force fact ⁠sheet. Its combat range extends more than 8,000 miles without refueling.

Monday’s incident marked the first crash of a B-52 Stratofortress since the same type of bomber crashed on the island of Guam in May 2016, according to the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives, a Geneva-based organization that collects global aviation accident data. ⁠All seven ​crew members aboard that aircraft survived.

Only H models of the B-52 remain in the ​Air Force inventory.

The aircraft involved in Monday’s crash was assigned to the 412th Test Wing, which is based at Edwards. Most B-52s are stationed in North Dakota and Louisiana.