Afghan and Pakistani delegations meeting in China have reported “useful” progress toward easing a recent bout of cross-border violence, Afghanistan’s Taliban-run Foreign Ministry said.
The talks, held in the western Chinese city of Urumqi since last Thursday, aim to stop clashes that have left scores dead on both sides of the frontier. Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, while Kabul maintains that militancy is an internal Pakistani security problem.
The current escalation followed Afghan cross-border strikes that were launched in response to Pakistani air raids inside Afghanistan in February. Pakistan later described its posture as being in “open war” with its neighbor, ending a Qatar-brokered ceasefire that had been in place since October.
Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met China’s ambassador to Afghanistan and thanked Beijing for arranging and hosting the discussions. He also expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for their mediation. According to a Foreign Ministry post on X, Muttaqi said useful discussions have taken place and expressed hope that differences in interpretation would not derail the talks.
Pakistani civilian officials did not issue an immediate public response to the meetings. On Tuesday, Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir held a meeting with senior military commanders; the meeting statement said operations would continue until terrorists’ safe havens and the use of Afghan soil against Pakistan are decisively ended.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates the conflict has displaced about 94,000 people overall. Some 100,000 residents in two Afghan districts near the border have been cut off from assistance since February because of the fighting.
Analysts say the recent outbreak is the most intense between the two countries since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, although tensions have been persistent. The Afghan Taliban has ties with, but is organizationally separate from, the Pakistani militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Kabul has accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike on March 17 that hit a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul and killed more than 400 people; Pakistan rejects that account, saying it targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure.
The parties agreed to a pause in fighting that coincided with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on March 18 as the talks proceeded in China.
Edited by Wesley Rahn