Pakistan, Afghanistan talks in İstanbul end without progress after border clashes

Negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan in İstanbul to secure a lasting truce after their deadliest border clashes in years have ended without progress, with a Pakistani security source saying a “last-ditch effort” separate from the talks was still underway.

Dozens of people were killed on both sides of the border in the worst violence since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The once-close neighbors have seen relations deteriorate sharply, with the Taliban government denying Islamabad’s claims that it shelters militants carrying out attacks in Pakistan.

An initial 48-hour ceasefire between the two sides collapsed earlier this month. A second truce was reached on October 19 following talks in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Turkey, though its terms remain unclear.

The latest round in İstanbul began Saturday and stretched into an 18-hour session on Monday, according to Pakistan’s state-run Radio Pakistan.

A Pakistani security source told Agence France-Presse that the Afghan Taliban delegation initially agreed to Islamabad’s demand for “credible and decisive action” against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, but later reversed its position after receiving instructions from Kabul.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif had warned before the talks that failure to reach a deal could lead to “open war.”

“We have the option, if no agreement takes place, we have an open war with them,” Asif said Saturday.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said any attack would be met with a response “that will serve as a lesson for Pakistan and a message for others.”

“It’s true that we do not possess nuclear weapons, but neither did NATO nor the United States manage to subdue Afghanistan despite 20 years of war,” Qani told the Afghan Ariana News outlet.

The fighting erupted after explosions in Kabul on October 9 that the Taliban government blamed on Pakistan, prompting retaliatory border shelling.

The frontier has remained closed for two weeks, with only Afghans expelled from Pakistan allowed to cross.

In the border town of Spin Boldak, a truck driver told AFP that “fruit is rotting” in vehicles waiting to move.

“There are 50 to 60 trucks, some with apples, others with pomegranates and grapes,” said 25-year-old Gul, who gave only his first name. “We wait and call on the government to reopen the border.”

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Monday that the violence had killed at least 50 Afghan civilians and wounded 447 in one week.

Pakistan’s military said on October 12 that 23 personnel had been killed and 29 wounded, without giving civilian figures.

© Agence France-Presse