Politics

Pakistan, Afghanistan officials hold talks amid growing tensions

Islamabad, Mar 22 (EFE).- Officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan met Friday in Islamabad amid growing tensions between the two countries after Pakistani air strikes allegedly killed eight Afghans earlier this week.

The acting ambassador of the de facto Taliban government, Sardar Ahmed Shakib, met the special representative of Pakistan for Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, to address “the recent challenges between the two countries,” the Afghan embassy in Islamabad said on social media platform X.

The talks aimed for “revitalization of political, commercial, people-to-people & other aspects of bilateral relations,” the embassy said.

The talks come days after Pakistan attacked the southeastern Afghan provinces of Khost and Paktika, which killed eight civilians, according to the ruling Taliban government.

Pakistan said that the airstrikes targeted alleged Pakistani Taliban militants. The Afghan government refuted these claims, asserting that the strikes killed five women and three children.

In response, the Afghan Taliban launched heavy weapons attacks against Pakistani troops along the disputed border and summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Kabul for explanations.

The attacks marked the most significant escalation since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

Pakistan alleges Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, who seek refuge in Afghanistan, for the surge in militant attacks targeting civilians and security forces on its soil.

The Afghan Taliban, for their part, deny these accusations.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a volatile disputed border that stretches around 2,500 km (1,500 miles), known as the Durand Line, which divides ethnic Pashtun and Baloch tribes in the tribal regions.

Bilateral tensions have often erupted along the border, sometimes escalating into violence and leading to closures that impact cross-boundary trade. EFE

aa-mvg/up/sc

Related Articles

Back to top button