ISTANBUL: Afghan and Pakistani negotiators are set to renew ceasefire talks in Turkey on Thursday, aiming to forestall a return to hostilities following their worst clashes in years.
Relations between the neighbours have soured lately, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harbouring militant teams that perform assaults in Pakistan, claims that the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan deny.
The most recent battle erupted after explosions within the Afghan capital on October 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan, prompting a retaliatory border offensive.
The following preventing killed greater than 70 folks, together with civilians, and wounded lots of extra.
The 2 nations, former allies who share a 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) frontier, agreed on October 19 to a ceasefire mediated by Turkey and Qatar, though its particulars haven’t been finalised.
A tense spherical of negotiations in Istanbul spanning a number of days ended final week with an settlement to increase the ceasefire and to satisfy once more on Thursday.
It was not clear who can be main the delegations.
Host Turkey mentioned on the conclusion of final week’s talks that the events had agreed to ascertain a “monitoring and verification mechanism” to keep up peace and penalise violators.
Negotiators are actually anticipated to hammer out the small print of that mechanism and different points in regards to the implementation of the ceasefire.
However distrust abounds. Either side have accused the opposite of not appearing in good religion and warned of a resumption of preventing ought to the truce collapse.
Pakistani officers have additionally described Kabul as appearing like a proxy of arch-rival India, which has solid shut ties with the Afghan Taliban because it returned to energy in 2021.
The Kabul explosions that sparked the battle final month coincided with India rolling out the pink carpet for UN-sanctioned Afghan Overseas Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s defence minister accused the Taliban authorities of “treacherous and barbaric patronisation of Indian-sponsored terrorism”.
Earlier than its return to energy in Afghanistan, Islamabad had had traditionally shut ties with the Taliban.
On the core of the present dispute are interlocking safety grievances which have poisoned relations since 2021.
Islamabad insists that Kabul should cease offering sanctuary to the Pakistani Taliban and different militant teams that allegedly use Afghan territory to plan and launch cross-border assaults.
Afghan officers reject these accusations, and accuse Pakistan of routinely violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty with strikes.
The border between the 2 nations has been closed for weeks, inflicting important financial losses to merchants on each side.
