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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that talks with the Afghan Taliban failed to yield a “workable solution” despite multiple meetings in Türkiye, accusing Kabul of evading commitments to curb militants and thriving on a “war economy” that risks dragging Afghans into another conflict.

Pakistan and Afghanistan had been holding peace talks in Istanbul since Saturday after the two countries saw the worst fighting in decades, leaving dozens dead and several wounded earlier this month. Clashes erupted after Pakistan conducted airstrikes near Kabul as it went after Pakistani Taliban militants, which Islamabad says operate from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. The Taliban responded with attacks on Pakistani military posts along the length of the 2,600-km (1,600-mile) contested border.

The two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19, mediated by Türkiye and Qatar, and met again in Istanbul on Oct. 25 to discuss a lasting truce. Pakistan sought assurances that Afghan territory would not be used by militants, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to carry out cross-border attacks, while Kabul demanded that Islamabad respect its sovereignty and refrain from strikes inside its borders.

“Over the last four days of dialogue, the Afghan Taliban delegation repeatedly agreed to Pakistan's logical and legitimate demand for credible and decisive action against these organisations and terrorists,” Tarar said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Sufficient and irrefutable evidence was provided by Pakistan which was acknowledged by Afghan Taliban and the hosts.”

“However, regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances,” he added. “The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue, evading the key point upon which the dialogue process was initiated. Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses. The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution.”

Tarar said Pakistan has repeatedly engaged the Afghan Taliban since their return to power in August 2021, urging them to prevent militant groups from using Afghan soil to attack neighboring countries.

Those efforts, he noted, “proved futile due to Afghan Taliban Regime’s unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists.”

“Since the Taliban regime bears no responsibility towards the people of Afghanistan and thrives on war economy, it desires to drag and mire Afghan people into a needless war,” he said, adding that Pakistan had “held countless rounds of talks” in pursuit of peace, but Kabul remained indifferent to its losses.

The Pakistani minister thanked Türkiye and Qatar for facilitating the talks, saying Pakistan’s foremost priority remains the security of its people.

“We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism,” he said, pledging to “decimate the terrorists, their sanctuaries, their abetters and supporters.”

BREAKDOWN OF TALKS

Pakistani officials said a day earlier the country was making a “last-ditch effort” to convince the Afghan Taliban to take decisive action against militants targeting its civilians and security forces. Explaining the breakdown, one of them attributed the outcome to “internal fractures and backstage power-play inside the Afghan regime.”

“From the very first session it became clear that the Afghan delegation was not negotiating with one voice,” the official said, requesting anonymity. “Three competing blocs — Kandahar, Kabul and Khost — were all feeding separate instructions to the delegates.”

When the talks reached the stage of written guarantees on TTP safe havens, he continued, the Kandahar faction signaled quiet willingness to proceed, but during the break, the Kabul group “staged a manufactured complication.”

“They suddenly insisted that no agreement can be signed unless the United States joins as a formal guarantor,” he said. “This was not part of the agenda, nor had it been raised in previous rounds.”

The official said the demand also caught mediators by surprise and appeared aimed not at security assurances but at “reopening a financial corridor through Washington.”

“Instead of countering TTP, they are trying to monetize TTP’s existence to revive a flow of dollars,” he added. “Until Kabul resolves its internal power struggle and stops trying to convert terrorism into political currency, no progress is possible.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a long, porous border that has long been a flashpoint, with both sides accusing each other of harboring militants and violating sovereignty. Relations have sharply deteriorated since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, with Pakistan reporting a surge in cross-border attacks attributed to the TTP.

While the two sides engaged in talks in Istanbul, tensions remained high along the frontier, with weekend clashes leaving five Pakistani soldiers and 25 militants dead, according to Pakistan’s military.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif blamed India for the deadlock in the peace talks a day earlier, saying New Delhi wanted to engage Islamabad in a “low-intensity war” and that the Afghan authorities understood the plan.

“The government right now in Kabul, it has been penetrated by India and India has started a proxy war against Pakistan through Kabul,” he told a private news channel.

Pakistan has long accused India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, to launch attacks from Afghanistan, though New Delhi has consistently denied the allegation.