Overview
- Pakistan said four days of negotiations in Istanbul produced no “workable solution,” accusing Kabul of giving no assurances despite Qatari and Turkish mediation.
- The deadlock centered on Islamabad’s demand for verifiable action against the TTP and guarantees that Afghan territory will not be used for attacks, which Taliban negotiators resisted as infringing sovereignty.
- Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif warned that any new militant attack in Pakistan would draw a stern response and threatened to “obliterate” the Taliban regime.
- Officials and state media reported the Oct. 19 Doha ceasefire remains in place, with mediators working to preserve it as key crossings stay closed and trucks and refugees remain stranded.
- Afghan media reported Pakistan acknowledged during the talks a pact allowing foreign drone strikes, while UNAMA recorded at least dozens of Afghan civilian deaths and hundreds wounded in the earlier border clashes.