Official sources dismissed on Tuesday reports that a three-member delegation sent by the government was holding talks with the Afghan Taliban in Kabul amid border tensions.
The sources noted that “Afghan propaganda accounts” had been making such claims on social media.
Afghanistan-based Tolo News also reported the same, citing an anonymous source.
But, official sources in Pakistan said there was no truth to these reports and Pakistan had not sent any such delegation to Kabul.
The sources asserted that Pakistan’s position was very clear that the Afghan Taliban would have to stop facilitating Fitna-al-Khawarij and take decisive action against them.
There would be no talks with the Afghan Taliban until then, Pakistan would continue actions against the hideouts of Fitna-al-Khawarij in Afghanistan, the sources said.
Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The reports of alleged talks and the subsequent dismissal by the official sources have come against the backdrop of ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, which Pakistan launched in late February following “unprovoked firing” by the Afghan Taliban from across the border.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of providing space to the TTP since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. UN monitoring reports over the past two years have noted the TTP’s presence in eastern Afghanistan.
Separately, the Pakistan Army has successfully destroyed key posts and centres in the Arandu and Kurram sectors during the ongoing operation Ghazab Lil-Haq, in response to the Afghan Taliban regime’s unprovoked aggression.
Security sources said the Afghan Taliban were forced to flee their posts due to effective attacks and retaliatory actions by the Pakistan Army.
The armed forces were targeting only Afghan Taliban and Fitna al Khwarij hideouts as well as military installations, they added.
Speaking at the UNSC separately, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad accused India of “actively supporting and sponsoring terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, such as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch Liberation Army”.
He noted that although India’s representative had spoken at length about the security situation in Afghanistan, mentioning civilian casualties and border clashes, there was no acknowledgement of the “terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan” because of India’s own complicity in the situation.