Afghan Taliban’s Deputy Minister of Information and Culture and spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid speaks during the death anniversary of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the late leader and founder of the Taliban, in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 24, 2022. REUTERS
KABUL/ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – A high-level delegation from Afghanistan left for peace talks with Pakistan on Saturday in Doha, an Afghan government spokesperson said, after the countries extended a ceasefire to their fierce border clashes.
“As promised, negotiations with the Pakistani side will take place today in Doha,” Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, adding that the Kabul team was led by Defence Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob.
A Pakistani delegation was already in the Qatari capital on Friday for the talks and was to be joined by more senior officials, three government and security officials told Reuters.
The government in Islamabad has not confirmed its participation in the talks. Pakistan’s defence and foreign ministries did not respond to requests for a comment.
Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday extended the 48-hour truce for the duration of the Doha talks, sources said, as they seek to resolve the clashes that killed dozens and wounded hundreds over the past week in the worst violence between the two South Asian nations since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
The fierce ground fighting between the onetime allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.
Militant violence in Pakistan has been a major irritant in its relationship with the Afghan Taliban. On Friday, a suicide attack near the Afghan border killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13, security officials said.
“The Afghan regime must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan and are using Afghan soil to perpetrate heinous attacks inside Pakistan,” the Pakistan Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, said on Saturday, addressing a graduation ceremony of cadets.
The Afghan government’s spokesperson said Pakistan had conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan hours after the ceasefire was extended.
He condemned the strikes, saying Kabul reserved the right to respond but that Afghan fighters had been directed to refrain from retaliating to maintain the status of and respect for its negotiating team.
The Pakistani military did not respond to a request for a comment on the airstrikes.
Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Writing by Asif Shahzad; Editing by William Mallard
