Negotiations for a lasting truce between Afghanistan and Pakistan have broken down, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on October 29 after four days of negotiations brokered by Qatar and Turkey.
” The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue, evading the key point upon which the dialogue process was initiated,” Tarar said on X. “Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses. The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution.”
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding talks in Istanbul aimed at securing peace after more than 70 people were killed earlier this month in border clashes. The recent violence, which also wounded hundreds of people, has been the worst since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
The violence erupted following explosions in Kabul on October 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan.
Tarar said Pakistan engaged with Afghanistan in the spirit of peace, but accused Kabul of “unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists.”
“We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism,” he added, vowing to “decimate the terrorists, their sanctuaries, their abettors and supporters.”
There was no immediate comment from Afghanistan.
Relations between the one-time allies, who share a 2,600-kilometre border, have soured in recent years over accusations from Islamabad that Afghanistan harbors militant groups, including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Pakistan accuses the Taliban authorities of allowing the TTP to use Afghan territory as a training and logistic base for terrorist activities in Pakistan, according to Tarar’s statement.
The Taliban government has denied the allegations.
The Pakistani military said on October 26 that five Pakistani soldiers and 25 militants from the TTP were killed the day before even as the diplomats met.
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned on October 25 that failure to reach a deal in the talks could lead to “open war.”
Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry, said on October 28 that any attack would be met with a response “that will serve as a lesson for Pakistan and a message for others.”
