Afghanistan, Pakistan Held 'Useful' Peace Talks, Kabul Says

Talks in China between Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve an ongoing conflict have seen "useful" progress, according to Afghanistan's Taliban-run Foreign Ministry.

The two sides been negotiating in China's western city of Urumqi since Thursday last week in an effort to end clashes that have left scores killed on both sides.

Pakistan has accused the Taliban in Afghanistan of harboring militants who launch attacks on Pakistani territory. Afghanistan insists militancy is an internal Pakistani security problem.

The latest round of fighting comes after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan in February. Pakistan then declared it was in "open war" with its neighbor, with the fighting disrupting a Qatar-brokered ceasefire that had taken effect in October.

Pakistan says military operation will continue

Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with China's ambassador to Afghanistan Tuesday and thanked Beijing for arranging and hosting the talks.

Muttaqi also thanked Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for their mediation efforts.

"Noting that useful discussions have taken place so far, FM Muttaqi expressed hope that minor interpretations would not hinder the progress of the negotiations," the Foreign Ministry posted on X.

Pakistani officials did not respond directly to the talks. On Tuesday, Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir met with top military commanders.

The meeting heads vowed to continue their military operation until "the culmination of terrorists' safe havens and use ​of Afghan soil against Pakistan is decisively brought to an end."

Latest flare-up displaces some 94,000 people, UN says

The United Nations' office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in Afghanistan estimates that the conflict had displaced 94,000 people overall, with some 100,000 people in two Afghan districts near the border becoming completely cut off since February due to the fighting.

The recent fighting is considered the most severe between the two countries, though tensions have been brewing since the Taliban's 2021 return to power in Afghanistan. The group has ties to, but is separate from, the Pakistani Taliban militant group, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.

Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of carrying out an air strike targeting a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul on March 17, which it said killed over 400 people.

Pakistan has rejected the Taliban's account, saying it "precisely ⁠targeted military installations ​and terrorist support infrastructure."

The two parties had agreed on a pause in fighting coinciding with the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan, on March 18.

Source: DW