- Islamabad says Kabul’s version of the talks is “false and misleading”.
- Pakistan urges action against terrorists taking refuge in Afghanistan
- Afghan Taliban claim extradition offer rejected by Islamabad.
ISLAMABAD: Amid a fragile ceasefire between Islamabad and Kabul, Pakistan on Saturday rejected the “deliberate distortion of facts” attributed to Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid regarding the recent Istanbul talks between the two countries.
In a statement issued on X, the Ministry of Information said Pakistan had demanded that terrorists based in Afghanistan and posing a threat to Pakistan be either checked or arrested.
“When the Afghan side claimed that these persons were Pakistani nationals, Islamabad immediately suggested that they should be extradited through designated border crossings in line with its long-standing position,” it said.
“Any claim to the contrary is false and misleading,” the statement added.
The clarification came after Zabihullah Mujahid told a private news channel that during the Istanbul talks, the Afghan side had offered to deport people considered security threats by Islamabad – a proposal Pakistan reportedly rejected.
He claimed that Pakistan had instead asked Afghanistan to confine these persons in Afghanistan instead of deporting them.
Mujahid further claimed that Afghanistan’s policy prohibits migrants from carrying weapons and said that Kabul would act if Pakistan provided credible evidence of any threat.
He also claimed that Pakistan’s recent actions appeared to be aimed at creating conditions for a possible US return to the Bagram airbase.
Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban regime agreed to maintain the ceasefire after several rounds of talks in Istanbul collapsed without a breakthrough.
Negotiations had broken down when the Taliban refused to provide verifiable guarantees that groups such as the TTP would not use Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan.
Pakistan had resumed talks at the request of mediators Turkey and Qatar to give peace another chance, while repeatedly urging Kabul to act against militants who use its territory as a safe haven.
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul
Pakistan has been grappling with rising terrorist incidents, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban regime took power in 2021.
The government in Islamabad has repeatedly called on the Taliban regime to rein in terrorist groups responsible for countless attacks in Pakistan.
However, the Taliban regime remained largely indifferent to Pakistan’s demands and gave sanctuary to several terrorist groups targeting security forces and civilians.
Instead of addressing Pakistan’s concerns about cross-border terrorism, the Taliban regime resorted to unprovoked firing along the border on 12 October.
The Pakistani armed forces quickly retaliated, killing over 200 Taliban fighters and affiliated militants; however, as many as 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred during the border clashes.
The security forces also carried out attacks inside Afghanistan, including in Kabul, destroying terrorist hideouts in the country.
Hostilities between forces of the two nations ceased after Pakistan accepted the Taliban regime’s request for a temporary ceasefire on 17 October.
Delegations from the two countries later met for talks brokered by Qatar in Doha, where they agreed on a ceasefire agreement.
Turkiye then hosted the second round of talks in Istanbul, which began on 25 October and continued until 31 October.
The two sides would meet again in the next round scheduled for November 6.
