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The Pakistan-Afghanistan peace talks, which were being held amid the clashes between the two countries, have collapsed in Istanbul, top sources told News18. “The Afghan Taliban assured cooperation, but Pakistan wanted written guarantees and security mechanism,” the source told News18 exclusively. Why the Afghanistan-Pakistan peace talks derailed The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is Pakistan’s internal security issue, the Afghan Taliban told the Qatari and Turkish mediators, said sources. “The Afghan Taliban refused to accept what it called Pakistan’s illogical and irrational demands. They maintained that Afghan soil was not being used for any terror activity,” said sources, quoting the Afghan Taliban. The Afghan Taliban also had another demand — Pakistan should not allow U.S. drones to enter Afghanistan from its airspace. “This, too, was not accepted,” said sources. “A clear divide was observed during ongoing negotiations between Pakistan & Afghanistan in Turkiye between the two factions of the Afghan Taliban Regime, mainly the ‘Kabul Group’ and the ‘Kandahar Group’. The Afghan Taliban delegation was in continuous contact with Kabul and Kandahar,” said sources. Meanwhile, the Pakistani delegation said that in the absence of talks or security agreement, Pakistan will continue to target terrorists inside or outside, said sources. “Consequently, Pakistan and Afghanistan failed to reach a final agreement. The talks for three days ended with no outcome. Qatari and Turkish officials and mediators, however, are still trying to get breakthrough,” said sources. How the Afghanistan-Pakistan clashes escalated The clashes broke out after Pakistan reportedly launched cross-border airstrikes in Kabul on October 9, targeting TTP camps. Pakistan accused the Afghan Taliban of harbouring TTP militants, responsible for killing hundreds of Pakistani soldiers since 2021. In response, Taliban mounted a major counteroffensive across the border, killing 58 Pakistani soldiers and destroying 20 security outposts over the weekend. Hostilities briefly paused after mediation by Saudi Arabia and Qatar but resumed. Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire on October 19. Afghanistan last week announced it was ready to agree to a full ceasefire and resolve all issues through dialogue with Pakistan. The Afghan authorities had issued a statement that the agreement would include a complete ceasefire, mutual respect, a ban on attacks against each other’s security forces, civilians, and infrastructure, and a commitment to settle all disputes through dialogue. Reacting to the clashes, US President Donald Trump had on Sunday said that he would solve it very quickly. “I heard that Pakistan and Afghanistan have started up, but I will solve it very quickly. Pakistan Field Marshal and PM are great people,” he had said. With Agency Inputs
