Pakistan reiterates backing for Afghanistan peace plan
We will always support ‘Afghan led-afghan owned’ Peace Process based on mutual consensus of all stakeholders, Bajwa tells Ghani in day-long visit to Kabul; Taliban and Afghan forces declare Eid ceasefire
The Pakistani army chief offered Islamabad’s support for the Afghanistan peace process in a meeting with President Ashraf Ghania in Kabul on Monday amid growing violence as the United States withdraws its troops.
Britain’s chief of defence staff also atended the meeting. Pakistan is a key player in moves to resolve the conflict between the Westernbacked government and the Taliban insurgents.
In the past, Islamabad has been accused of harbouring the Taliban but in recent years Washington and other Western powers have acknowledged its efforts to push the militant group to take part in peace talks.
Pakistani Army Chief of Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa reiterated to Ghania that “a peaceful Afghanistan means a peaceful region in general and a peaceful Pakistan in particular,” a Pakistani military statement said.
“We will always support ‘Afghan led-afghan owned’ Peace Process based on mutual consensus of all stakeholders,” it said.
Meanwhile, Ghani thanked Bajwa for a meaningful discussion and appreciated Pakistan’s sincere and positive role in the Afghan peace process.
Later, General Bajwa also called on Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan Dr Abdullah Abdullah and discussed maters related to the peace process.
Director General Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid accompanied the COAS during the visit. General Bajwa was also accompanied by British Chief of Defence Staff General Nicholas Patrick Carter.
Britain still has troops in Afghanistan in a war that started with the overthrow of a Taliban government following the 2001 atacks by militants in the United States.
In recent weeks, Pakistan has been negotiating with the insurgents to try to get them to commit to a ceasefire, Taliban and diplomatic sources have told Reuters.
Pakistan is also trying to persuade them to agree to an extension of the Us-taliban agreement which stipulated US and other foreign forces should withdraw by May and to continue to take part in planned peace talks in Turkey.
But violence has risen starkly in recent weeks as the US forces pull out.
The Taliban and Afghan government on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire for this week’s Eid Al Fitr holiday, following a sharp spike in violence as Washington goes about withdrawing its remaining troops from Afghanistan.
Violence has soared since May 1 — the deadline missed by the United States to withdraw the last of its troops — and while the Taliban have avoided engaging American forces, atacks against government and civilian targets have not stopped.
In the latest, the interior ministry said on Monday that at least 11 people were killed by a bomb that struck a bus overnight in southeastern Zabul province.
That followed Saturday’s carnage outside a school in the capital Kabul when a series of bombs killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 100 — most of them young girls.
Early on Monday, the Taliban instructed their fighters “to halt all offensive operations against the enemy countrywide from the first till the third day of Eid.”
That was matched later in the day by President Ghani, who went further by urging the Taliban to announce a permanent truce to end the bloody war. The Taliban and government have declared similar ceasefires in the past to mark Islamic holidays.
3 soldiers killed: Earlier during the day, three soldiers were killed and five others injured in two separate terrorist atacks in Balochistan province, an army statement said.
One of the atacks took place in the provincial capital of Queta where militants atacked paramilitary troops Frontier Corps (FC) deployed on security duties, the military’s media wing Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.
The atack let three soldiers killed and one injured, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
In another atack in Turbat area, terrorists targeted FC soldiers patrolling along the PakistanIran border, leaving four of them injured, the statement added.