Pakistan’s defence and intelligence chiefs met Taliban leaders in Kabul on Wednesday, discussing security threats, particularly those posed by Pakistani Taliban, and economic ties. The Taliban said its leaders also discussed drones violating Afghan airspace with the Pakistani delegation.
“The delegation met senior leadership of the Interim Afghan government including Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar Akhund, Defence Minister Mawlavi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi,” Pakistan’s foreign minister said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Pakistan’s defence minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif and chief of the country’s intelligence agency (ISI), General Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, discussed the growing threat of terrorism, particularly by the Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic State – Khurasan Province (ISKP), in the meeting and agreed with the Afghan Taliban leaders to “effectively address” the threat of terrorism.
The TTP and ISKP topped the agenda of this meeting as the first one, a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, have recently carried out some deadly attacks in Pakistan, including Peshawar mosque bombing which left around 100 dead, mostly policemen. And the later which is the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, locally known as Daesh, has carried out deadly attacks in Afghanistan and considered as the main threat challenging Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan.
In Munich Security Conference, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari highlighted the ISKP as the “biggest threat to the Taliban” in Afghanistan. The terrorist outfit had also claimed responsibility for an attack on Pakistan embassy in Kabul earlier in December 2022.
Meanwhile, the Taliban issued a separate statement saying that the Taliban leaders, including its intelligence chief Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq, held a detailed working meetings with the Pakistani delegation. “Security concerns of the two sides, drones flying in our region, and activities of armed opposition groups were discussed in details,” the Taliban said in statement issued in Pashto.
Transit, trade, economic ties, problem for travels across the borderline, and the issues of Afghan refugees were also discussed during the meeting, the Taliban added.
