Official sources dismiss reports of Pakistan sending delegation to Kabul for talks with Afghan Taliban

Official sources dismissed on Tuesday reports that a three-member delegation sent by the government was holding talks with the Afghan Taliban in Kabul amid border tensions.

The sources noted that “Afghan propaganda accounts” had been making such claims on social media.

Afghanistan-based Tolo News also reported the same, citing an anonymous source.

But, official sources in Pakistan said there was no truth to these reports and Pakistan had not sent any such delegation to Kabul.

The sources asserted that Pakistan’s position was very clear that the Afghan Taliban would have to stop facilitating Fitna-al-Khawarij and take decisive action against them.

There would be no talks with the Afghan Taliban until then, Pakistan would continue actions against the hideouts of Fitna-al-Khawarij in Afghanistan, the sources said.

Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The reports of alleged talks and the subsequent dismissal by the official sources have come against the backdrop of ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, which Pakistan launched in late February following “unprovoked firing” by the Afghan Taliban from across the border.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of providing space to the TTP since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. UN monitoring reports over the past two years have noted the TTP’s presence in eastern Afghanistan, though the Taliban deny offering support.