Peace negotiations are taking place in Kabul between the Pakistani Taliban and senior Pakistani officials, the Afghan government, which is mediating, announced on Wednesday May 18.
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Pakistan has been confronted for several weeks with the return in force of the Pakistani Taliban of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), galvanized by the coming to power of the Taliban in August 2021 in Afghanistan. The TTP is a separate group from the Afghan Taliban, but driven by the same ideology and a long common history. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of letting the TTP use Afghan soil to plan its attacks, which Kabul has repeatedly denied.
“Significant progress”
Peace negotiations between the TTP and Pakistani representatives take place in Kabul “under the mediationfrom the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement posted on Twitter.
Kabul “does everything to make the negotiation process successful and expects both sides to be tolerant and flexible“, he added, referring to “significant progressin the discussions. The TTP confirmed that negotiations were “In progressin Kabul and that the Afghan Taliban served asmediators“. This group also announced that it had extended until May 30 a ceasefire declared at the beginning of the month for the Islamic holiday of Eid. A source within the TTP told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that these negotiations were taking place in a “positive atmosphere“, but that it would be “premature to draw any conclusions“.
Many armed groups on the border
The TTP carried out countless attacks that bloodied Pakistan between its creation in 2007 and 2014. Then weakened by intense army operations, it has been back in force for more than a year. This forced Islamabad to open negotiations, accompanied by a ceasefire, late last year for the first time since 2014, already with the mediation of the Afghan Taliban. But these talks ultimately came to nothing and the truce was broken a month later.
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The border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan has long been home to numerous armed groups, which operate across the porous border. But it has been a source of growing tension since the return to power of the Taliban. In mid-April, Afghan officials accused the Pakistani military of killing 47 civilians in airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan. The Pakistani army has not confirmed having carried out this operation, and the Pakistani government has urged Kabul to secure and better control its border.