ISLAMABAD: A prominent former Pakistani militant leader with close ties to the Afghan Taliban arrived in Kabul this week in an effort to ease tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
The visit takes place as the South Asian neighbors have engaged in their worst fighting in years following Pakistani airstrikes on major Afghan cities last month, increasing volatility in a region now also on edge over US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Islamabad has said its airstrikes, which have at times directly targeted the Afghan Taliban government, are aimed at ending Afghan support for militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied aiding militant groups.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, who founded the popular militant entity Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), arrived in Kabul this week, according to three sources, two based in Kabul and one in Islamabad.
A first Kabul-based source who declined to be identified said Khalil was leading a three-member delegation comprising Pakistani clerics Abdullah Shah Mazhar and Sajjad Usman to explore ways to reduce recent tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
