Peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan collapse

4 days ago 3

Peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan collapse

Negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan broke down Wednesday after both sides failed to resolve tensions that sparked violent clashes earlier this month.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan collapsed on Wednesday. That's after armies from the two countries shot at each other earlier this month. Betsy Joles has more from Islamabad.

BETSY JOLES, BYLINE: The failure of peace talks in Istanbul is dominating the news cycle here.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking Urdu).

JOLES: The talks were meant to iron out a lasting truce that would calm tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. But after four days of negotiations, Pakistani officials announced that they'd failed to find a solution. In a post on X, Pakistan's information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said that's because the Afghan Taliban government didn't assure Pakistan that it would act against militant groups that target it. These are groups like the TTP that Pakistan says operate from bases inside Afghanistan. The TTP, known as the Pakistani Taliban, frequently carries out attacks in Pakistan with the goal of setting up hard-line rule. President Trump said a few days ago that the conflict would be an easy fix.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I heard that Pakistan and Afghanistan have started up, but I'll get that solved very quickly.

JOLES: But it's complicated. The Afghan Taliban government denies supporting the TTP and other militant groups. Experts note that attacks from these groups have increased since the Taliban took control four years ago, after the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. Abdul Basit from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore says the two sides publicly disagree about where the attacks emanate from.

ABDUL BASIT: Taliban says it's from within Pakistan. Pakistani position - it is these are cross-border.

JOLES: Tensions heated up earlier this month after a militant attack killed 11 Pakistani soldiers near the border. This was followed by a series of strikes inside Afghanistan and cross-border firing between Afghan and Pakistani forces. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire on October 19 after an initial round of talks in Qatar. That ceasefire has officially held, but many worry the region could become more volatile now.

For NPR News, I'm Betsy Joles in Islamabad.

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