Afghanistan, Pakistan hold 'useful' peace talks in China, says Kabul

Kabul: Afghanistan and Pakistan made "useful" progress in talks in China to resolve the conflict that broke out between ⁠the South Asian neighbours last October, the Taliban administration in Kabul ⁠said on Tuesday. The two Muslim countries have been ‌negotiating to end hostilities in ​the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi since last week.

China, which shares stretches of its western border with both countries, has been mediating to help end the worst conflict between the allies-turned-foes since the Taliban returned ​to power in 2021.

Islamabad ⁠accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring Islamist militants who have launched attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the accusation, saying the militancy is Pakistan's domestic problem.

In a statement from his office, Afghanistan's ⁠acting foreign minister ‌Amir Khan Muttaqi said "useful discussions have taken place so far" and expressed hope that minor interpretations would not ‌hinder the progress of the talks.

His comments came after he met with ⁠Zhao Xing, the Chinese ambassador to Kabul. The fighting has killed scores of people on both sides, ‌mainly on the Afghan side, since it started ‌in October.

A meeting of Pakistani army commanders headed by ‌their chief Field Marshal Asim Munir resolved on Tuesday that ‌the operation will continue till "the culmination of terrorists' safe havens and use of Afghan soil against Pakistan is decisively brought to an end." Kabul said more than ⁠400 people ⁠were killed in a Pakistani air strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul last month before the neighbours suspended the fighting. A Reuters reporter counted more than 100 bodies at one hospital after the air strike.

Pakistan has rejected the Taliban's statements about the strike, saying it "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure".

China's ​efforts come as Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which had previously ​tried to broker a ​peace deal between Pakistan and Afghanistan in October, find themselves embroiled in the U.S.-Iran war.