Afghanistan – The Afghan government (Taliban) announced on Saturday the failure of the latest round of peace talks with Pakistan in Turkey, blaming Islamabad for the collapse due to what it described as an “irresponsible and uncooperative approach.” Pakistan, in turn, confirmed the failure of the talks and issued strongly worded warnings to the Taliban government.
Kabul: Pakistan wants to shift full responsibility
The spokesman for the Afghan Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, confirmed in a statement that the Pakistani side sought to “shift full responsibility for its security onto the Afghan government,” while showing no willingness “to assume responsibility for Afghanistan’s security or its own.”
The announcement of the failure came after the two countries resumed talks in Istanbul on Thursday, in an attempt to reach a lasting truce following bloody clashes last month on the border that left dozens dead.
Islamabad: Threat to “wipe out the Taliban” and insistence on a “written agreement”
In contrast, Pakistan confirmed the failure of the talks, with Pakistani officials indicating that the negotiations had entered an “indefinite phase” due to each side’s adherence to its position.
Accusations of evasion: Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused the Afghan side of “deviating from the core issue” and resorting to “blame-shifting, evasion, and trickery,” asserting that the dialogue failed to reach “any practical solution.”
Warning of “annihilation”: The verbal escalation reached its peak with statements from Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, who warned that if no agreement is reached, it could lead to “open war,” and vowed to respond to “any terrorist attack,” threatening that Pakistan needs to use “only a small part of its full arsenal to completely eliminate the (Taliban) regime.”
Asif stressed that the reason for the stalemate is Afghanistan’s refusal to sign a “written agreement” guaranteeing that Afghan territory would not be used to launch attacks against Pakistan, noting that his country would not accept “verbal guarantees” in international negotiations.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban of harboring militants belonging to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) who use Afghan territory to launch attacks, an accusation denied by the Taliban government in Kabul.
