Pakistan, Afghan Taliban Resume Talks  04/01 06:07

   Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban governments have resumed talks in China, 
which is mediating between the two sides to broker a durable ceasefire after 
more than a month of fighting, two Pakistani officials said Wednesday.

   ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban governments have 
resumed talks in China, which is mediating between the two sides to broker a 
durable ceasefire after more than a month of fighting, two Pakistani officials 
said Wednesday.

   A third person who is in a position to know about China's mediation efforts 
said the talks were aimed at ending the current fighting.

   Representatives from both countries are meeting in Urumqi, in northern 
China, the officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of 
anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

   China has not commented.

   Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs neither confirmed nor denied the 
latest development.

   However, the talks in Urumqi are seen as a potential relief for millions of 
people in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, the sources in Pakistan said, 
adding they may last for days and that they were only the beginning of a peace 
process between the two.

   According to the sources, the latest round of talks began after both sides 
accepted China's offer to mediate and the two sides will continue their talks 
on Thursday to end the fighting. China has, since late February, urged both 
sides to resume dialogue and its special envoy, Yue Xiaoyong, met his Pakistani 
counterpart, Mohammad Sadiq, last month after visiting Kabul.

   Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing a safe haven for militants who 
carry out attacks inside Pakistan, especially for the Pakistani Taliban. The 
group is separate but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban, which took over 
Afghanistan in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. 
Kabul denies the charge.

   Pakistan's former special envoy for Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, expressed 
hope that the talks, if officially confirmed, would lead to substantive 
progress.

   "If both sides reach an agreement as a result of reported talks, the 
critical issue will be a verification mechanism to ensure Afghan territory is 
not used for attacks against Pakistan," Durrani said.

   The fighting, which erupted in late February, has been the most severe 
between Afghanistan and Pakistan in decades. Shortly after clashes began, 
Pakistan declared it was in "open war" with Afghanistan. The fighting has seen 
repeated cross-border clashes as well as airstrikes inside Afghanistan, 
including several in the Afghan capital Kabul.

   Last month, Afghanistan said a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug-treatment 
center in Kabul, killing more than 400 people. The toll could not be 
independently confirmed. Pakistan has disputed the claim and denied targeting 
civilians, saying it struck an ammunition depot.

   The Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told the AP at the time 
that Pakistan had "only targeted terrorist infrastructure" in Kabul, not any 
hospital, saying: "We have just gone after the Afghan Taliban regime, their 
military setups, their terrorist infrastructure, and all the setups which are 
supporting or promoting terrorists."

   Although the two sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire during the Muslim 
holiday of Eid al-Fitr, fighting later resumed at a lower intensity compared 
with the heavy clashes seen in February and March, when Pakistan's air force 
repeatedly targeted what it said were Pakistani Taliban positions and Afghan 
military sites. Afghanistan has said the airstrikes hit civilian areas.

   The two sides have a long history of tense relations, but the latest 
violence has alarmed the international community, particularly because militant 
groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group remain present in the 
region and have sought to regroup.

   The latest fighting also undermined a Qatari-mediated ceasefire reached in 
October, which had halted earlier clashes that killed dozens of civilians, 
security personnel and militants. The two sides dispute casualty figures. 
Another recent round of talks in Saudi Arabia remained inconclusive.

   Previous peace talks held in Istanbul in November failed to produce a 
lasting agreement.

   It remains unclear who is representing Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 
latest round of talks in China, according to the officials.