Negotiating teams from Afghanistan and Pakistan are to meet in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday in a bid to bolster a ceasefire along their shared border, where there have been several clashes over the past two weeks in which dozens have died.
The confrontations started after explosions in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers blamed on Pakistan and responded to with cross-border attacks, prompting Islamabad to respond with “precision strikes” against armed groups in Afghanistan.
What do Afghan and Pakistani negotiators hope to achieve in Istanbul?
After a first 48-hour ceasefire collapsed, with Kabul blaming Islamabad, a second truce mediated by Qatar and Turkey was put in place last Sunday that appears to be holding.
The negotiators in Istanbul negotiators are expected to detail the “mechanisms” for bolstering that second truce.
The Afghan Taliban government says the aim is to ensure their country’s territorial integrity, while the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has said the talks needed to address “the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil towards Pakistan.”
Pakistan has repeatedly accused its Afghanistan of “harboring” groups it views as “terrorist,” above all the Pakistani Taliban (TTP).
Kabul denies the charge.
Pakistan has otherwise been a major supporter of the Taliban as it tries to gain allies amid a rivalry with India.
The Kabul explosions that triggered the recent violence took place as the Taliban foreign minister was visiting India in an unprecedented move.
