ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has presented a set of “evidence-based” demands to mediators Qatar and Turkiye during peace talks with Afghanistan in Istanbul, the Pakistani foreign office said on Friday, as Islamabad presses Kabul to take concrete action against militant groups involved in cross-border attacks.
Pakistan and Afghanistan resumed their talks in Istanbul on Thursday, to finalize details of an Oct. 19 ceasefire that was reached in Doha, with both sides accusing the other of not being willing to cooperate.
The two countries engaged in fierce fighting last month after Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan on what it called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan-linked targets. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the TTP and other groups, Kabul denies it.
During the latest round of talks, the neighbors once again clashed along the border, though calm was restored quickly and both sides confirmed that the ceasefire was intact. But the violence may complicate ceasefire the negotiations being held in Turkiye.
“Yesterday our talks with Afghan Taliban regime commenced in Istanbul with the presence and participation of the mediators,” Tahir Andrabi, a Pakistani foreign office spokesman, said at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad.
