As the final round of peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Istanbul fell flat, the Taliban government on Saturday said it has a right to defend itself in case of a war. Multiple rounds of negotiations have failed to end the skirmishes between the two South Asian neighbours who have are on a face-off after deadly border clashes that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.
Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for the failure of the talks mediated by Turkey and Qatar, terming Pakistan’s demands as unreasonable which stagnated the peace process as it raked up Afghanistan’s “right to defend itself” in a war, news agency AP reported, quoting Afghan government spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid.
Mujahid said that while Afghanistan “(does) not want insecurity in the region, and entering into war is not our first choice”.
“If war breaks out, we have the right to defend ourselves,” he was quoted as saying. Earlier, he had reiterated in a written statement that Afghanistan “will not allow anyone to use its territory against another country, nor permit actions that undermine its sovereignty or security.”
Pakistan’s “war” threat
Even before the start of the final rounds of talks, Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif warned Afghanistan that a war would happen if talks failed. In an interview with Pakistan’s Geo News, Asif said, “If talks fail, only war will happen,” when he was asked about the military confrontation being the last resort to deal with the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Video clip of the interview has been doing rounds on social media.
On Saturday, Asif reportedly said that the talks were “over”, further warning that the ongoing ceasefire will hold only until there are no violations from the Afghan side.
Announcing the deadlock, Pakistan information minister Attaullah Tarar assured that Pakistan valued peace and stability but would take “necessary” measures to protect its own people. According to news agency AP, Tarar has said that Pakistan “will not support any steps by the Taliban government that are not in the interest of the Afghan people or neighboring countries.”
Rounds of talks fail to bring peace
Last month, after two rounds of talks ended in failure, Turkey issued a statement saying that Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed on a ceasefire. “All parties have agreed to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and imposing penalty on the violating party,” the statement read.
The two countries have been locked in a battle since October after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for twin explosions in Kabul city. Days later, the Taliban said they had “retaliated” by targeting Pakistani military posts, and claimed that it killed 58 of Pak soldiers. However, Pakistan confirmed the deaths of only 23 soldiers.
After fierce border clashes, both sides had agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire, but tensions flared up again as Pakistani forces carried out airstrikes on Afghan territory, killing at least 10 people, three local Afghan cricketers among them. The fighting stopped after Qatar and Turkey intervened.
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