ISTANBUL: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Qatar have successfully concluded a series of talks in Istanbul, solidifying a ceasefire agreement between Kabul and Islamabad.
According to a joint statement released on Friday, all parties have agreed to the continuation of a ceasefire that was initially brokered in Doha on October 18-19. The talks, mediated by Türkiye and Qatar, also resulted in an agreement to establish a monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure peace and penalize any violators.
The modalities for implementing this agreement will be finalized in a high-level principal meeting scheduled for November 6 in Istanbul.
The mediating nations, Türkiye and Qatar, expressed appreciation for the contributions of both Afghanistan and Pakistan and reaffirmed their commitment to supporting lasting peace and stability in the region.
After the deadlock in ongoing talks in Istanbul, the Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif issued a sharp warning to the Taliban regime on Wednesday, saying Islamabad would not hesitate to “completely obliterate” Afghanistan’s rulers if provoked, after four days of fruitless peace talks in Istanbul.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Asif said Pakistan joined the Istanbul negotiations “at the request of brotherly countries” to give peace a chance but accused Afghan officials of responding with “venomous statements” that reflected a “devious and splintered mindset” within the Taliban leadership.
“Pakistan does not need to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves,” Asif wrote. “If they wish so, a repeat of the scenes of their rout at Tora Bora would be a spectacle for the region.”
