Talks in China to resolve the ongoing conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan have seen “useful” progress, according to Afghanistan’s Taliban-run Foreign Ministry.
The two sides have been in talks since Thursday last week in China’s western city of Urumqi in an effort to end clashes that have left scores of people dead on both sides.
Pakistan has accused the Taliban in Afghanistan of harboring terrorists who attack Pakistani territory. Afghanistan says terrorism is an internal Pakistani security problem.
The latest round of fighting comes after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan in February. Pakistan then declared it was in “open war” with its neighbor, disrupting a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October.
Pakistan says military action will continue
Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki on Tuesday met China’s ambassador to Afghanistan and thanked Beijing for arranging and hosting the talks.
Muttaqi also thanked Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for their mediation efforts.
“Noting that useful discussions have taken place so far, FM Muttaki expressed hope that minor clarifications will not hinder the progress of the talks,” the Ministry of External Affairs posted on Twitter.
Pakistani officials did not react directly to the talks. On Tuesday, Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir met top military commanders.
The meeting chiefs vowed to continue their military campaign until “terrorists’ use of safe havens and Afghan soil against Pakistan is decisively ended.”
The UN says the latest fires have displaced about 94,000 people
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan estimates the conflict has displaced 94,000 people overall, with about 100,000 people in two Afghan districts near the border completely cut off since February due to fighting.
The recent fighting is considered the most serious between the two countries, although tensions have been rising in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The group is related to, but separate from, the Pakistani Taliban terrorist group, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike targeting a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul on March 17, which it said killed more than 400 people.
Pakistan rejected the Taliban’s claim, saying it “accurately targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure.”
Both sides had agreed to stop fighting on March 18, coinciding with the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn