The Taliban has asked Pakistan’s senior diplomat in Kabul to “pay serious attention” to “contentious statements” from Islamabad, insisting that accusations could undermine bilateral relations.
According to an official statement, Kabul conveyed its concerns during a meeting between Pakistan’s chargé d'affaires and senior Taliban commando and Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stankzai. Abbas told Stankzai that “existing problems between the two countries are solely caused by misunderstanding”.
The Pakistani diplomat also assured the Taliban commando that the “improvement of relations” between the two nations was the responsibility of the Pakistani Embassy.
The meeting was held amid strained ties between the two states after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the UN General Assembly last month that terrorist groups in Afghanistan continue to pose a threat to the global community.
In response to Sharif’s remarks, Stanikzai threatened to “go to war” with Islamabad if it continued to accuse the Islamist group of sheltering terrorists. Stanikzai’s remarks have been censured by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, which said that the comments were against the “spirit of friendly ties” between the two regimes.
Meanwhile, there has been a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in recent weeks, with most of the incidents claimed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose official goal is to impose Islamic law in the country.
While the Taliban was mediating peace talks between the TTP and Islamabad after it came to power in Kabul last August, dialogue has remained suspended since late last year.
Thousands of local residents in Swat valley, a region in KP province that borders Afghanistan, hit the street this week warning the Sharif government that they will be forced to take up arms if Islamabad doesn’t check the growing militant violence.
*under UN sanctions over terrorist activities
**a terrorist organization banned in Russia