The Foreign Office (FO) on Sunday stated that the Afghan Taliban only participated in talks with Pakistan this past week to prolong a temporary ceasefire between the two nations and did not take any action against terrorist elements operating from their soil.

Talks between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban followed weeks of shuttle diplomacy after deadly border clashes last month. On Friday, the talks broke down, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif saying that the negotiations “entered an indefinite phase”, but a temporary ceasefire between Kabul and Islamabad still stands.

In a lengthy statement published today, the FO said: “Anyone following the talks held under the mediation of brotherly countries of Turkiye and Qatar, could easily discern that the Taliban regime was only interested in prolonging the temporary ceasefire, but without taking concrete and verifiable actions against the TTP/FaK (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan/Fitna-al-Khawarij) and BLA/FaH (Balochistan Liberation Army/Fitna-al-Hindustan) elements present on Afghan soil.”

Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned TTP. It later designated Balochistan-based groups as Fitna-al-Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan.

“Instead of finding solutions to address Pakistan’s core concern, [the] Afghan regime used the opportunity to malign Pakistan through hypothetical accusations and jingoistic rhetoric,” the statement added. “It prolonged discussions and engaged in futile arguments to stonewall the efforts at reaching any concrete understanding.”

The statement added that at the same time, the Afghan Taliban regime tried to paint the issue of Pakistani terrorists hiding in Afghanistan as a humanitarian issue.

“In the aftermath of Pakistan’s ‘Operation Zarb-i-Azb’ in 2015, terrorists belonging to the so-called TTP/FaK fled to Afghanistan,” the statement read. “They abetted [the] Afghan Taliban in their fight against the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) and [the] Afghan Government of the time. These terrorists and their families are now being harboured by [the] Taliban regime as a payback for their allegiance to Afghan Taliban.”

Despite the breakdown of the negotiations, the statement emphasised that Pakistan has never turned down dialogue with “any government in Kabul”, but affirmed that it would not hold dialogue with any terrorist group.

The FO noted that since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, terrorist attacks in Pakistan surged, with the attacks “emanating from Afghan soil”. It added that despite the attacks, Islamabad maintained restraint and took no retaliatory action.

“Pakistan’s expectation was that with [the] passage of time, [the] Taliban regime would be able to control these attacks and take concrete actions against the TTP/FaK elements present on Afghan soil,” the statement read, adding that Pakistan tried to foster positive ties through providing humanitarian assistance and encouraging trade.

“However, despite all these positive gestures by Pakistan in terms of trade, humanitarian assistance, educational and medical visas facilitation and efforts at international forums to encourage the international community to engage with [the] Taliban regime in the interest of regional peace and stability, and for the socio-economic development of Afghanistan and its people, the response from the Taliban regime has only been hollow promises and inaction.”

The statement reiterated Pakistan’s demand that the Afghan Taliban hand over these terrorists to Islamabad’s custody, adding that Kabul repeatedly refused to do so, citing a lack of control.

“More than being a matter of capability, it has become a matter of intent of [the] Taliban regime. Empty hopes and hollow promises rendered by Taliban regime so far have already outlived their efficacy,” the FO stated.

“[The] Taliban regime is also trying to portray the TTP/FaK and BLA/FaH elements as refugees in Afghanistan. This is not a humanitarian or a refugee issue, but a ploy to frame terrorists as refugees.”

The statement added: “Instead of acting upon the core expectation from Pakistan … not to allow Afghan territory to be used for attacks against Pakistan, the Taliban regime has always tried to shy away from taking concrete and verifiable actions.”

The FO said Kabul has tried to “confuse the main issue with other relatively irrelevant and hypothetical issues” and keeps trying to “develop a narrative which absolves [the] Taliban regime of its commitments and responsibilities towards international community and its own people.”

The statement affirmed that Pakistan’s response to attacks launched from Afghanistan’s territory would leave “no stone unturned” to safeguard its sovereignty and citizens, adding that anyone supporting or abetting terrorists is “not considered a friend” of Islamabad’s.

Narratives and propaganda

The statement added that the Afghan Taliban try to spread narratives about disagreements within Islamabad over Afghan policy.

“Irrespective of this misleading propaganda, there is absolute clarity among the people of Pakistan that the ordinary people of Pakistan are the biggest victims of the terrorist activities by elements hiding in Afghanistan and their abettors,” the FO clarified, maintaining that Pakistan’s armed forces are fully capable of safeguarding the population against any acts of aggression.

Moreover, the FO noted in its statement an attempt by elements in the Afghan Taliban to “instigate Pashtoon (Pakhtun) nationalism” in Pakistan.

“It is a historical fact that Pashtoons in Pakistan are a vibrant part of the society and the state, holding leadership positions across the spectrum of polity and bureaucracy,” the statement read.

“More … Pashtoons live in Pakistan than in Afghanistan … therefore, instead of instigating pashtoonism in Pakistan, it would be wise for [the] Taliban regime to look into its own credentials of inclusivity of all segments of its population in its governance structures.”

‘Strong lobby’

The FO added that there are people within the Afghan Taliban who do not want war with Pakistan, but noted the presence of a “strong lobby, with monetary support from foreign actors that has been tasked to stoke tensions”.

“In search for legitimacy and to unite their fractious government, certain elements in [the] Taliban regime, anti-Pakistan terrorist elements and their abettors have found raising the bogey of Pakistan quite useful,” the statement read.

“These elements have engaged in abuses and outrageous allegations against Pakistan. By doing so, they are fast eroding whatever goodwill they had within Pakistan.”

Border clashes and talks

The hostilities began when an attack was launched on Pakistan from Afghanistan on the night of October 11. The attack had followed an allegation from the Taliban of airstrikes by Pakistan into Afghanistan — an accusation which Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied.

For its part, Islamabad has long demanded that the Taliban stop terror groups from using its soil against Pakistan. Taliban, however, deny the allegation of allowing terrorists to operate from Afghan soil.

Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to grapple with the issue of terrorism and has suffered multiple casualties among security forces in intelligence-based operations.

After the initial skirmish on October 11, multiple others took place along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Meanwhile, strikes by Islamabad also targeted Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan.

A ceasefire was then agreed upon on October 15 in the evening, and eventually, the two sides came together for dialogue in Doha.

Since the skirmishes between October 11 and 15, Pakistan and Afghan Taliban representatives have held several rounds of talks — first in Doha and then in Istanbul — but a final agreement was not achieved.

After the Doha talks, a temporary ceasefire continued to prevent border hostilities while the two sides committed to reconvene in Istanbul to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability between the two countries.

On October 25, the second round of talks between the two sides began in the Turkish capital. But, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced in a post on X on October 29 that the talks “failed to bring about any workable solution”. He also asserted that Pakistan would continue to take all possible measures to protect its citizens from terrorism.

However, mediators Turkiye and Qatar intervened and managed to salvage the dialogue process, with an October 31 joint statement released by Turkiye stating that “further modalities of the implementation will be discussed and decided” during a principal-level meeting in Istanbul on November 6.

For the third round, under the joint mediation of Turkiye and Qatar, delegations from both sides arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday.

The talks began on Friday, surviving a brief exchange of fire along the border that tested the shaky ceasefire. Two people, including a woman, were killed on the Pakistani side in a cross-border exchange of fire at the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing.

However, the talks failed as negotiators could not bridge deep differences between the two sides.

“Right now, as we speak, negotiations are over,” said the defence minister while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.

The defence minister added that the Afghan Taliban delegation again came to Istanbul “without any programme” and that they were not willing to sign a written agreement. “They said that they would only respect the verbal agreement, but there is no room to do that.”