FRESH ROUND OF AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN DIALOGUE KICKS OFF IN RIYADH

Wed 03 December 2025:

A fresh round of discussions between Afghanistan and Pakistan has taken place in Saudi Arabia, according to a report by Reuters.

Citing three Afghan officials and two Pakistani officials — including one based in Istanbul — the agency reported that both sides agreed to maintain a ceasefire and continue dialogue aimed at reducing tensions.

A senior official from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) told the outlet: “We are open to more meetings to see a positive outcome.”

Pakistani officials confirmed that Islamabad was represented by a delegation comprising members of the military, intelligence services, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Previous attempts by IEA and Pakistani officials to resolve border issues, including meetings held in Qatar and Turkey, have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.

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Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of providing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) with a safe haven since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.

The Taliban denies that its territory is used by the group.

The tensions spilled over into fierce clashes in October, with dozens of people killed in what was the worst fighting around the border since the Taliban took power.

A ceasefire has tentatively held since, but tension has continued to seethe.

Kabul has accused its neighbour of carrying out air strikes in its eastern provinces, while Pakistan has been hit with a surge of attacks.

A suicide bombing at an Islamabad court complex that killed 12 people and an attack on a paramilitary headquarters in Peshawar have kept suspicion bubbling in Pakistan, with authorities pointing at the TTP and arresting four members of an Afghan cell after the Islamabad bombing.

On Tuesday, gunmen killed a local administrator and two officers in the city of Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, wounding three others, police officer Kamal Khan told the AFP news agency.

A faction of the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack, the agency reported.

The two sides signed a ceasefire in Doha in October, but a second round of negotiations in Istanbul last month ended without any long-term deal being reached.

Pakistan says that it wants its neighbour to commit to taking action against the TTP. Kabul retorts that it cannot be expected to guarantee security in a neighbouring country.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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