Mass Exodus Of Afghans Begin As Deadline To Leave Pakistan Arrives

 

FOX News: Pakistan set to deport over 1.4 million undocumented Afghan nationals; UN seeks relief on deadline  

Pakistan’s government announced a major crackdown earlier this month 

Pakistan's government plans to deport over 1.4 million Afghan nationals after November 1, and the United Nations is calling for the country to hold off to avoid human rights violations. 

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a press release that it is "extremely alarmed" by Pakistan’s deportation announcement, as there are currently over two million undocumented Afghans living in the country. 

Of the two million, more than 600,000 are immigrants who left Afghanistan after the Taliban reclaimed power in August 2021.  

Read more .... 

Mass Exodus Of Afghans Begin As Deadline To Leave Pakistan Arrives 

Afghans make up majority of 140000 leaving Pakistan as deadline set to expire -- Reuters  

Mass exodus of Afghans as deadline to leave Pakistan arrives -- AFP  

Thousands of Afghans forced to return as Pakistan’s anti-migrant deadline ends -- The Independent  

Afghan refugees forced to leave Pakistan say they have nothing -- BBC

Border Clashes Increase Between Afghanistan And Pakistan

A Pakistani soldier keeps vigil at the border fencing along with Afghanistan. PHOTO:AFP  

France 24: Afghanistan death toll in 'Pakistan strikes' rises to at least 47: officials 

Kabul (AFP) – The death toll from Pakistani military air strikes in the eastern Afghanistan provinces of Khost and Kunar has jumped to at least 47, officials said Sunday, as Islamabad urged Kabul to act against militants launching attacks from Afghan soil. 

 Border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since the Taliban seized power last year, with Islamabad claiming militant groups are carrying out regular attacks from Afghan soil. 

The Taliban deny harbouring Pakistani militants, but are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre (1,600-mile) border.  

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: The Taliban have responded .... Taliban issues warning over civilians killed by Pakistan rockets (Al Jazeera). 

Border Clashes Increase Between Afghanistan And Pakistan  

Pakistan warns neighbor Afghanistan not to shelter militants -- AP  

Pakistan says cross-border attacks from Afghanistan have increased -- Reuters 

Pakistan Warns Afghanistan Not to Shelter Militants -- The Diplomat  

Pakistan warns Afghanistan's Taliban not to shelter militants -- DW  

Pakistan frustrated by Afghan Taliban's inaction against TTP -- Express Tribune

Pakistan International Airlines Suspends Afghanistan Flights Due To Taliban 'Heavy-Handedness'

FILE PHOTO: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane prepares to take off from the Benazir International airport in Islamabad 

CNN: Pakistani airline suspends Afghanistan flights due to Taliban 'heavy-handedness' 

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN)Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced Thursday that it was suspending flights to Afghanistan due to what it described as unworkable conditions imposed by the Taliban. 

The airline said conditions had worsened since the Taliban formed a new Afghan government last month and that "PIA and its staff position in Kabul were dealt with very heavy-handedly by the new [Taliban] commanders." 

PIA said commanders had been "changing regulations and flight permissions at the last moments or deciding at a whim rather than meeting international regulations." 

The statement also claimed that PIA's country representative was "held up at gun point for hours when he left the Pakistan embassy compound" on the Taliban's "suspicion of aiding and abetting" people seeking to flee Afghanistan.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: Pakistan did warn the Taliban that this suspension was going to happen .... Taliban govt warns PIA to reduce fares or face ban (Express Tribune).

In turn the Taliban are warning Pakistan to not suspend these flights .... Taliban warns of ban on PIA, Kam Air Airlines (Khaama Press). 

As for what remains of Afghanistan's middle and professional class, they are making their intentions clear .... Many Afghans pack their bags, hoping for the chance to leave (AP). 

More News On Pakistan International Airlines Suspending Afghanistan Flights 

Pakistan airline axes Afghanistan flights after 'heavy-handed' Taliban 'changed flight permissions last-minute' and an executive was held at gunpoint for 'helping people flee the country' -- Daily Mail  

Pakistan Airlines suspends Afghan operations, citing Taliban interference -- Reuters  

PIA suspends Kabul flights over 'unprofessional' aviation authorities -- Dawn/AFP  

Pakistan Airlines halts flights to Kabul citing "heavy-handedness" of Taliban -- Axios

Pakistan Says Afghanistan’s Frozen Assets Should Be Released

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Shah Mahmood Qureshi  

Samaa TV: Afghanistan’s frozen assets should be released, says Pakistan’s Qureshi 

Spanish minister says ready to provide aid to Afghan people Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Afghanistan’s frozen should be released. Soon after the Taliban took control of the country, the US froze Afghan central bank’s assets worth $9.5billion. 

It also stopped shipments of cash to the country. He was talking to media after a meeting with Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares in Islamabad on Friday. Albares is the sixth foreign minister to visit Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban took Kabul on August 15.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: It is always about the money.

Pakistan Rejoices At The Taliban Victory

Imran Khan said the Taliban have broken "the shackles of slavery"  

DW: Afghanistan: Pakistan rejoices at Taliban victory as West flounders 

Many Pakistanis are euphoric after the victory of the Taliban, celebrating the fall of Kabul, and the seizure of power by the extremist group, which has historic ties with Islamabad. 

Afghanistan has a familiar power back in place. Kabul has fallen. The Taliban have won. And Pakistanis are euphoric. 

To many a foe, but to others a friend, the cloistered group of extremists has long held cordial ties with Islamabad, and the Taliban's recent rise from the flames has left many Pakistanis in raptures.  

Read more .... 

Update: Pakistan cheers Taliban out of ‘fear of India’ – despite spillover threat (France 24)  

WNU Editor: This Washington Post commentary has a different opinion .... Pakistanis aren't rejoicing over the triumph of the Taliban (Washington Post).

Pakistan’s Support For The Taliban Is Now Widely Open

Taliban fighters have taken large swathes of Afghanistan in the past two weeks. Photo: AFP / Aref Karimi  

Asia Times: Pakistan’s support for Taliban now in open view  

Afghan-Pakistan relations in a tailspin amid rising revelations Islamabad is providing crucial support to Taliban's war effort 

 PESHAWAR – When a movie depicting the Taliban taking out a funeral procession in the Pakistani city of Peshawar recently went viral on social media, the Interior Ministry’s real-life acknowledgment of the Afghan Taliban’s presence in the country failed to make much of a stir. 

In late June, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed revealed that the families of several Afghan Taliban militants live safely in Pakistani cities, including some in the capital Islamabad’s poshest districts. 

However, a clearer picture of the Afghan Taliban’s presence emerged when local media, quoting Pakistani officials, confirmed that the bodies of militants killed in Afghanistan are now arriving in Pakistan, while wounded fighters are also receiving treatment in Pakistani hospitals in Balochistan province.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: According to the UN there are about 6,000 Pak’s TTP terrorist fighters in Afghanistan supporting the Taliban against Afghan forces .... 6,000 Pak’s TTP terrorists still in Afghanistan, support Taliban against Afghan forces: UN report (Hindustan Times).

Pakistan’s Security Establishment Is Cheering The Taliban’s Recent Military Gains In Afghanistan. Will They Come to Regret It?

In this file photo, an army soldier stands guard along the newly fenced part of the Pak-Afghan border after Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa inaugurated the fencing work near the Panjpai area of Balochistan.—AFP/File  

Husain Haqqani, Foreign Affairs: Pakistan’s Pyrrhic Victory in Afghanistan  

Islamabad Will Come to Regret Aiding the Taliban’s Resurgence 

Pakistan’s security establishment is cheering the Taliban’s recent military gains in Afghanistan. The country’s hard-liners have funneled support to the Taliban for decades, and they can now envision their allies firmly ensconced in Kabul. Pakistan got what it wished for—but will come to regret it. A Taliban takeover will leave Pakistan more vulnerable to extremism at home and potentially more isolated on the world stage. 

 The end of the United States’ 20-year war in Afghanistan also promises to mark a turning point in its relationship with Islamabad. Pakistan has long veiled its ambitions in Afghanistan to maintain relations with Washington, but that balancing act—seen in Washington as a double game—will prove impossible in the event that a reconstituted Islamic emirate is established in Kabul. This would not be the vindication that Pakistan’s military is expecting: the Taliban are less likely to defer to Pakistan in their moment of triumph, and the Americans are not likely to reconcile with the group over the long term. Pakistan’s nightmare scenario would be to find itself caught between an uncontrollable Taliban and international demands to rein them in.

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: It is going to take decades for Pakistan's relations with the West to return to normal. And there will be a price that Pakistan will have to pay. 

My prediction. 

Do not be surprised if Pakistan is designated as a state sponsor of terror if the Taliban and its allies succeed in taking over Afghanistan.

Pakistani Support For The Taliban Is Surging

The Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania seminary earned the nickname the "University of Jihad" for its fiery ideology and the number of Taliban fighters it has produced  

DW: Why is Pakistan seeing a surge in Taliban support? 

Pakistani citizen Abdul Rasheed died in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province earlier this month. Hundreds of people attended the 22-year-old's funeral near Peshawar and chanted pro-Taliban slogans. 

Videos of Pakistani citizens holding Taliban flags and chanting Islamist slogans at rallies to show support for the Afghan insurgents have been circulating on social media. This comes amid rapid Taliban advances in Afghanistan ahead of the complete withdrawal of US troops by September. 

Islamic clerics in various parts of the country are also soliciting support for the Afghan Taliban and calling for donations. 

Many locals and witnesses in the city of Quetta and district of Pishin of Balochistan province told DW that there had been an increased pro-Taliban activity in their areas.  

Read more ....  

Update: Young Pakistani's Taliban idealism ends with death in Afghanistan (AFP)  

WNU Editor: The madrases in Pakistan have long been an incubator for radical Islam and producing fighters for the Taliban. As long as this continues, the war in Afghanistan will never end.

Daughter Of Afghanistan’s Ambassador To Pakistan Abducted And Tortured In The Pakistani Capital Of Islamabad

 

The Guardian/AP: Daughter of Afghan envoy abducted and ‘severely tortured’ in Pakistan 

Silsila Alikhil, 26, was badly beaten and held for over five hours in Islamabad, according to diplomatic sources 

The daughter of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan was abducted in the middle of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, held for several hours and brutally attacked, officials in both countries said on Saturday. 

No one has been arrested in connection with Friday’s assault on Silsila Alikhil, 26. 

The Afghan foreign ministry issued a statement demanding a quick investigation, saying she was “severely tortured”. 

A hospital medical report, seen by the Associated Press, said she suffered blows to her head, had rope marks on her wrists and legs, and was badly beaten. 

There was a suspicion that she had several broken bones and X-rays were ordered, the report said. 

Read more ....  

WNU editor: Pakistan's interior minster is accusing India for this incident .... Afghan ambassador's daughter was not abducted: interior minister (GEO News). 

More News On The Daughter Of Afghanistan’s Ambassador To Pakistan Abducted And Tortured In The Pakistani Capital Of Islamabad  

Daughter of Afghan envoy kidnapped and injured in Pakistan -- BBC  

Daughter of Afghanistan envoy to Pakistan briefly kidnapped and 'severely tortured' -- NBC/AP 

Afghanistan recalls envoy, diplomats from Pakistan over abduction -- Al Jazeera

Afghan ambassador, diplomats withdrawn from Islamabad -- The Hill

Pakistani Military And Intelligence Officials Say They Are Losing Influence Over The Taliban

A Pakistani army soldier stands guard along with border fence at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border near the Punjpai area of Quetta in Balochistan on May 8, 2018.  

VOA: Pakistan Intel Chief Gives 8-Hour Briefing on Afghanistan 

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - Senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials told members of Parliament during a closed, eight-hour briefing Thursday that they are losing influence over the Taliban and building up border defenses for fear of increased violence in neighboring Afghanistan once the U.S. withdrawal is complete. 

Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, gave the briefing, with army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on hand to answer questions. 

They told the parliamentary committee that Pakistan was trying to persuade the Taliban to negotiate a settlement to the conflict, but the country’s influence is waning, according to a statement from Pakistan’s Information Ministry and VOA sources inside the meeting.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: The spillover from the war in Afghanistan is now impacting the Pakistan-Afghan border .... Militants kill three Pakistani soldiers near Afghan border (Reuters). It is going to get worse, and there is a now a real prospect of millions of Afghan refugees fleeing into Pakistan.

I personally find it hard to sympathize with Pakistan. After-all. They brought this all upon themselves .... Pakistan's dangerous gamble in Afghanistan has left it in perilous state, warns expert (Hindustan Times).

Pakistan Will Close Its Border With Afghanistan If The Taliban Take Over The Country

In this file photo, an army soldier stands guard along the newly fenced part of the Pak-Afghan border after Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa inaugurated the fencing work near the Panjpai area of Balochistan.—AFP/File  

Hindustan Times: Pakistan will shut its border with Afghanistan in ‘national interest’ if Taliban takes over post-US withdrawal 

The foreign minister’s admission comes a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan told reporters that Pakistan will be sealing its border with Afghanistan if the Taliban attempts to take over the country with their military might. 

Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the country will shut its border in “national interest” with neighbouring Afghanistan if the Taliban takes over the country after the withdrawal of US troops from the region concludes. 

“We will have to shut our border, we have to safeguard our national interest,” the Associated Press said, quoting Qureshi. Qureshi claimed that Pakistan has sheltered 3.5 million Afghan refugees over the years as the Taliban ravaged Afghanistan but “we can’t take more”.  

Read more ....  

Update: Pakistan will shut border if Taliban take over Afghanistan (AP)  

WNU Editor: A takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban will create a refugee crisis that the world has not seen in years. This announcement by the Pakistani government tells me that they have accepted that this is a very real possibility, and they are positioning themselves for a worst-case scenario.

Pakistan Has Almost Completed A Fence Along It's 1,456 Mile Border With Afghanistan

A Pakistani soldier keeps vigil next to a newly fenced border fencing at Kitton Orchard Post in NW. AFP

Muhammad Akbar Notezai, The Diplomat: Will Pakistan's Wall Work?

Pakistan is building a wall along its border with Afghanistan. Will it actually make the country safer?

Bramcha (sometimes spelled Bramacha) is a tiny town in Pakistan’s far western Balochistan province, situated in a corner of the province’s Chaghi district on the border with Afghanistan. There used to be an extension of the same town on the Afghan side of the border, too. After the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan, the Afghan side of the town was wiped from the map due to bombing campaigns – the town not only housed the Afghan Taliban but also drug traffickers. Some called Afghan Bramcha the epicenter of drug trafficking, and it’s not hard to see why. Even today, Bramcha is situated in one of the remotest and most lawless corners of the world.

Over the years, Pakistani authorities have grown increasingly concerned about the security situation on its borders with both Afghanistan and Iran. The border with Afghanistan, in particular, has been loosely governed and porous from day one. This is why Pakistani authorities have now commenced fencing its border with Afghanistan, in a bid to stop militants and drug traffickers from pouring into Pakistan.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Here is a post on Pakistan's border fence from 2017 .... Pakistan fortifies border with Afghanistan to reduce cross border attacks (DAWN).

Pakistan's Premier Sees No Military Solution To The War In Afghanistan

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Photographer: Asad Zaidi/Bloomberg

Bloomberg: Pakistan's Premier Sees No Military Solution to Afghanistan War

* Prime Minister Abbasi hits back at Trump’s actions in region
* Transfer of 27 insurgents to Afghanistan ‘routine’: Abbasi

There’s no military solution to the long-running conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said, warning little progress would be made until all sides entered into peace talks.

Abbasi voiced skepticism over U.S. President Donald Trump’s increase in troops to assist the Afghan security forces and said Islamabad was ready to help mediate talks with the Taliban, many of whom had been allegedly trained in Pakistan.

“At the end of the day the Afghans have to sit down and talk,” Abbasi, 59, said in an interview at his home in Islamabad.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi may see no military solution to the long-running conflict in Afghanistan, but the Taliban do .... Taliban reacts to U.S. pressure, ISIS with wave of Kabul attacks (NBC).

Afghan Interior Minister And Intelligence In Pakistan Holding Talks On The Growing Violence In Afghanistan

VOA: Afghan Spy Chief, Interior Minister Make Surprise Pakistan Visit

ISLAMABAD — Top Afghan security officials have made a surprise visit to Pakistan, to discuss mutual cooperation with civilian and military leaders following a series of deadly Taliban and other militant attacks in Afghanistan.

The visit Wednesday took place hours after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan urged Afghan leaders to engage in bilateral discussions with Pakistani counterparts.

Increased militant violence in Afghanistan has fueled Kabul’s tensions with Islamabad amid accusations insurgents used sanctuaries in Pakistan to plot recent suicide bombings, with the help of the country’s spy agency, ISI.

Pakistani authorities condemned the terrorist attacks and rejected the Afghan charges as unfounded and emphasized the need for “a credible investigation” into the attacks.

Read more ...

Update #1: Afghan spy chief visits Pakistan in wake of Kabul attacks (Reuters)
Update #2: Afghan interior minister, intelligence chief in Pakistan for talks: FO (GEO TV)

WNU Editor: Afghan - Pak relations are truly in the "toilet" .... Ghani Refuses To Take Pakistan PM’s Phone Call (Tolo News)

Pakistan To Expel 1.4 Million Afghans Back To Afghanistan Within 30 Days

Zero Hedge: Chaos Strikes As 1.4 Million Afghans Have 30 Days To Leave Pakistan

On Wednesday, the Pakistani government ordered 1.4 million Afghan refugees to leave the country in 30 days. According to DAWN, the oldest English-language newspaper in Pakistan, this is the sixth extension given to refugees, which the last expired on December 31.

The announcement was made by the National Security Committee and approved by the federal cabinet, which comes after President Trump unleashed a series of tweets accusing Pakistan of harboring terrorist.

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump said on New Year’s day.
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Talk about chaos .... evicting 1.4 million people from your country in the middle of winter. With allies like this, who needs enemies.

The Former Afghan Intelligence Chief Blames Pakistan For Militarily Supporting The Taliban

Afghan Special Forces and policemen prepare themselves for battle with the Taliban on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah capital of Helmand, Afghanistan, Oct. 10, 2016.

Voice of America: Former Afghan Intel Chief Accuses Pakistan of Militarily Supporting Taliban

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Former Afghan Intelligence Chief Accuses Pakistan of Militarily Supporting Taliban

Afghanistan’s former spy chief has accused Pakistan of helping the Afghan Taliban militarily, as well as providing them with safe havens..

In an exclusive interview with VOA in Kabul, Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the National Directorate of Security, said Pakistan helped create a strike force called the Red Force or Red Brigade in late 2014, and that it started operating in early 2015 when international forces had mostly left and surveillance had been reduced.

Initially, Nabil added, almost 3,000 people were recruited to fight in southern Afghanistan. They were divided into cells of 25 fighters assigned to one handler from Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The leadership of the Taliban live in Pakistan, and the radical madrases that  provide the foot soldiers to fight in Afghanistan are still operating. When Pakistan ends all of this .... that is when I know that they are serious to stop this war. But for the moment .... the war continues.

Pakistan Is Threatening To Deport All Afghan Refugees Back To Afghanistan

Bloomberg: Pakistan Wants to Send 1.5 Million Refugees Back as U.S. Tensions Rise

* Pakistan seeks to send back 1.5 million Afghan refugees
* Middle East conflicts drawing attention from Afghan plight: UN

More than three decades after fleeing Afghanistan, refugee Noor Said struggles to feed his family of eight on less than the $3 per day he earns weaving fabric in northwest Pakistan. Now he’s got an even bigger worry: Being forced back amid the worst border tensions in years.

“I can’t take my small children to a place where their lives are tougher and in danger, even if that is our motherland,” he said this week in his three-room home in Utmanzai, a dusty refugee camp with more than 300 mud-brick houses near the border with Afghanistan. He initially fled when the Soviet Union invaded in 1980.

Said is among at least 1.5 million documented refugees who are caught in the middle of a wider spat involving Afghanistan, Pakistan and the U.S. that escalated after an American drone killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour last month. Pakistan is threatening to deport all of the refugees by the end of June, a move that risks leading to a humanitarian disaster in what would be one of the biggest forced repatriations in decades.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: And Pakistan is an ally ?!?!?!

Why Afghanistan And Pakistan Cannot Cooperate To Defeat The Taliban

Pakistani Taliban fighters, who were arrested by Afghan border police, stand during a presentation of seized weapons and equipment to the media in Kabul, Afghanistan on January 5, 2016.

Ayesha Tanzeem, VOA: Why Pakistan Won't Go After Afghan Taliban

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is hesitant to take action against the Afghan Taliban on its soil because of concerns the group will redirect its violence against Pakistan and Afghan intelligence will support it, a senior Pakistani official said.

“We have to think twice before taking action. Anybody we take action against is immediately supported from the other side,” the official told VOA on the condition of anonymity.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently demanded that Pakistan either take military action against Taliban commanders on its soil or arrest them and hand them over to Kabul.

Pakistan has often complained that when it launched military operations in Swat and South Waziristan in 2009, militants belonging to Pakistani Taliban took shelter in Afghanistan and started using it as a base, with the help of Afghan intelligence, to carry out operations against Pakistan.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Bottom line .... they do not trust each other.

Afghan And Pakistani Officials Agree To Work Together To Restart Peace Talks With The Taliban

Wall Street Journal: Afghanistan, Pakistan Agree to Work to Restart Peace Talks With Taliban

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met at Heart of Asia conference

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Afghan and Pakistani leaders said Wednesday they would work together to restart peace talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban within weeks, in the hope of bringing to an end the long-running war in Afghanistan.

The announcement followed a meeting between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Heart of Asia conference, an annual event aimed at promoting stability and development in Afghanistan, held in the Pakistani capital this year.

“We very much hope that this effort will result in a result-oriented peace process where we will see some positive moves in the coming weeks,” Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani told reporters. “That may take some time, but we hope that this will start as soon as possible.”

WNU Editor: I have lost count on the number of times that Afghan and Pakistani leaders have agreed to work together to bring an end to the war with the Taliban. As for this new round .... I have no reason to be optimistic.

More News On Afghan And Pakistani Officials Agreeing To Work Together To Restart Peace Talks With The Taliban

Pakistani Officials: Afghan Peace Talks Expected Next Week -- VOA
Afghanistan seeks Pakistani help to restart stalled peace talks -- Reuters
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to resume talks with Taliban -- The Nation
Afghanistan, Pakistan to step up anti-Taliban fight -- Press TV
Afghan, Pakistani Leaders Hold Firm At Heart Of Asia Conference -- RFE
Afghanistan's Ghani urges regional help to defeat terrorism -- BBC
Afghan President Receives Unexpected Welcome in Pakistan -- NYT

Pakistan And Afghan Leaders Meet To Discuss Resuming Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

Wall Street Journal: Pakistani, Afghan Leaders Discuss Resuming Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks

Sharif, Ghani meet in Paris as step toward mending bilateral ties

The leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan met Monday and discussed the resumption of peace talks between the Kabul administration and the Taliban, Pakistani officials said, in an attempt to revive the stalled reconciliation process in Afghanistan that aims to end the long-running war.

After months of strained ties, the meeting was seen by analysts as the first step toward mending bilateral ties, which is essential for Pakistan-brokered peace talks to resume. The peace process is being actively encouraged by the U.S. and China, with the hope that talks with the Taliban can be resuscitated in the next few weeks.

WNU Editor: This is pointless, the Taliban and now the Islamic State are not interested in peace talks.

More News On The Leaders Of Pakistan And Afghanistan Meeting To Discuss Resuming Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks

Pakistani, Afghan leaders discuss mending ties, reviving Taliban talks -- Reuters
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree on action against anti-peace elements -- Xinhua News Agency
Pakistan, Afghanistan Set for 'Ice Breaking' Talks in Paris -- VOA
Pakistan Wants Cordial Ties With Afghanistan, Says PM Nawaz Sharif -- NDTV
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree on action against anti-peace elements -- Business Standard