All news

Pakistan ready to arrange talks of Afghan authorities, Taliban — Foreign Ministry

Recently he Taliban movement captured and controlled for several days the Afghan city of Kunduz, the administrative center of the province of the same name

ISLAMABAD, October 9. /TASS/. Pakistan is ready to act as a mediator in organizing the negotiations between Afghanistan’s authorities and the Taliban movement, spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry Qazi Khalilullah said.

"Pakistan is ready to once again act as a mediator in arranging the talks between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban provided that both sides show interest in this dialogue," local mass media quote the spokesman as saying. Khalilullah’s remarks came amid the recent events in neighboring Afghanistan, where the Taliban movement captured and controlled for several days the city of Kunduz, the administrative center of the province of the same name.

Pakistan earlier acted as a mediator in arranging the contacts between Kabul and the Taliban. The informal talks between the Afghan government and the this movement took place in the Pakistani mountain resort town of Murree on July 7. The second round of talks was expected to be held on July 31. However, the scheduled talks were disrupted.

Afghanistan has repeatedly accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban movement. Islamabad vehemently denies such accusations. On August 10, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai once again sharply criticized the leadership of Pakisstan after a series of explosions in Kabul that claimed the lives of more than 50 people. "Pakistan continues to harbor mercenaries, from where they send us the war message," he said.