KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Tribal elders from both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have held two rounds of meetings in recent days in an effort to ease rising tension between the Taliban and Pakistan, local sources said on Monday.
Sources in Afghanistan’s Kunar province told KabulNow that elders from Sarkano district in Kunar and Bajaur district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province met on Wednesday last week and again on Saturday this week.
According to the sources, Afghan elders attended the meetings with the permission and consultation of the Taliban.
The discussions focused on securing a ceasefire, ending border clashes, and halting Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, particularly in Kunar province, which has been hit by repeated missile and air attacks in recent weeks.
The sources said no agreement has been reached yet, but the elders want the talks to continue in hopes of finding common ground.
Taliban authorities and Pakistani officials have not commented on the reported discussions.
The initiative comes as relations between Islamabad and the Taliban, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since late 2025 and escalated into open conflict in early 2026. The violence has included dozens of border clashes, Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, including in Kabul and other provinces, and retaliatory attacks by Taliban fighters.
Hundreds of people have been killed or injured on both sides, including civilians, while tens of thousands of families have been displaced in border provinces, including Kunar, Nuristan, Nangarhar, Khost, and Paktika. The fighting has also damaged schools and health facilities and led to the near-total closure of border crossings, except for Afghan refugee deportations from Pakistan.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban of sheltering militants from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups responsible for attacks inside the country. Islamabad has demanded verifiable action against TTP, including written guarantees to restrain or relocate fighters.
The Taliban rejects the allegations, saying Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal matter and denying the presence of such groups on Afghan soil.
Previous mediation efforts, including talks hosted by China and other regional countries, as well as calls from the United Nations and rights groups for de-escalation, have so far failed to resolve the core dispute. A brief ceasefire during Eid al-Fitr later collapsed as fighting resumed along the border.
The elders’ meetings represent a traditional, local-level effort to address urgent humanitarian issues and stabilize border areas where formal diplomacy has stalled. Similar tribal jirgas have previously helped reopen crossing points and reduce local tensions, though their influence on high-level policy remains limited.
