Afghanistan sends delegation to Pakistan to discuss peace

According to AP: The Afghan government on Thursday sent a high-level delegation to Pakistan to discuss an action plan after Islamabad-hosted peace talks with the Taliban were suspended last month, officials said.

The one-day visit follows an angry speech by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in which he claimed Pakistan was involved in a spate of devastating Taliban attacks that struck the Afghan capital last week, killing dozens.

The Taliban have been fighting the Kabul government for almost 14 years. The recent attacks followed the announcement that their leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, died two years ago.

Ghani’s deputy spokesman Zafar Hashemi said the delegation was led by Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, and included national intelligence chief Rahmatullah Nabil and Acting Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai.

They will meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other Pakistani officials. It was not clear if Rabbani would also meet with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is also currently visiting Islamabad.

“The Afghan government wants Pakistan to take action against those groups … (who are) declaring war against Afghan people,” Hashemi said.

Ghani said this week war had been “declared against us from Pakistani territory,” referring to a part of the Taliban leadership that is based in Pakistan.

Departing from his typically reconciliatory tone, he said neighboring Pakistan has failed to take action against “suicide training camps and bomb-making facilities” used for attacks inside Afghanistan that he claimed are based in Pakistan.

Pakistan, which has in the past denied supporting the Taliban, offered condolences for the victims of Kabul attacks and said it remains committed to maintaining good relations with the Afghan government.