Afghanistan to demand arrest, expulsion of Taliban leaders from Pakistan: sources

Source says Afghan delegation will visit Pakistan on Thursday to discuss 'non-paper' issued by Afghan govt

ISLAMABAD: An Afghan delegation will visit Pakistan on Thursday to demand the arrest and expulsion of Taliban leaders from its soil, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

“Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani will lead a high-level delegation to Pakistan on Thursday,” a source said. Afghan Defence Minister Masoom Stanekzai is likely to be a part of the delegation.

A source said the focus of the discussion would be a ‘non-paper’ presented by the Afghan government to Pakistan.

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“Afghan government wants a response to the non-paper,” the source further added, explaining the reason behind the delegation’s visit.

The non-paper demands that Pakistan take action against Afghan Taliban on its soil, according to the source.

“Pakistan should not allow injured Taliban to be treated in Pakistani hospitals,” the non-paper states, the source added. Further, the non-paper also demands Pakistan to block sources of financial funding to Afghan Taliban.

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The visit comes after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said a delegation would travel to Pakistan on Thursday to “seriously” discuss the peace process. The move came after Ghani accused Pakistan on Monday of sending ‘messages of war’ and harbouring bombmaking camps, after a wave of devastating blasts in Kabul killed at least 56 people. Ghani’s outburst came after he spoke to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by the telephone to discuss the possibility of resumption of peace process between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban.

However, Pakistan has denied Afghan accusations of harbouring Taliban militants.

The first face-to-face talks aimed at ending the 14-year insurgency took place last month between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the hill town of Murree. The Taliban distanced themselves from a second round of talks scheduled for the end of July, after the announcement of Mullah Omar’s death.

However, Ghani did not entirely shut the door on resuming dialogue with the Taliban if it stopped the violence. “We will make peace only with those who believe in the meaning of being a human, Muslim and Afghan and who do not destroy their own country on order from foreign masters,” he said on Monday.