Pakistan Announces Failure to Reach a Permanent Ceasefire with Afghanistan

SadaNews - Pakistan announced on Wednesday that the negotiations aimed at achieving a permanent ceasefire with Afghanistan "failed to reach any practical solution", warning that it will not hesitate to take necessary steps to protect its citizens.

At the conclusion of negotiations mediated by a joint Qatari-Turkish effort in Istanbul over four days, Pakistan's Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, said in a post on the X platform: "Unfortunately, the Afghan side did not provide any guarantees, continued to deviate from the core issue, and resorted to blame-shifting tactics and evasion (...) , and thus the dialogue failed to reach any practical solution."

No immediate comment was issued from Kabul regarding this statement.

Following border clashes between the two countries that resulted in dozens of casualties, including civilians, Kabul and Islamabad reached a ceasefire agreement ten days ago, mediated by Qatar, and began negotiations in Turkey on Saturday to finalize a ceasefire agreement.

The confrontations began two weeks ago when the Taliban government in Afghanistan launched a border attack after explosions occurred in Kabul, for which Pakistan was blamed.

The border between the two countries has been closed since then, and crossing is only allowed for Afghan migrants being expelled from Pakistan.

Pakistan, which is facing a rise in attacks against its security forces, states that it expects its neighbor to stop harboring Pakistani "terrorist" groups on its territory.

However, Kabul denies supporting any of these groups and asserts its desire to respect Afghanistan's territorial integrity.

A Pakistani security source said that a "final effort" was made on Tuesday to try to secure an agreement "despite the Taliban's obstinacy."

However, Afghan media reported that several Taliban officials described Pakistan's demands as "unreasonable and unacceptable", affirming at the same time that the talks "remain the best option for resolving the conflict".

Over the weekend, Pakistan's Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, warned that an "open war" could erupt between the two countries if the negotiations fail.

On Wednesday, Pakistan's Information Minister said: "We will continue to take all necessary measures to protect our people from the threat of terrorism," pledging to "eradicate terrorists and their havens, as well as those who collaborate with them and support them."