Pakistan won’t be part of internal Afghan conflict: PM Imran

Imran warns against derailing Afghan peace process

ISLAMABAD: Expressing his dismay over the recent upsurge in violence in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan has made it clear that Pakistan would not be part of any internal conflict in the war-torn neighbouring country anymore.

In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, the premier cautioned all parties against derailing the peace process.

Imran noted that the Afghan conflict had brought great suffering for both Afghanistan and Pakistan over the last 40 years and the peace process presented a historic opportunity for peace in the region.

“Pakistan is fully supporting the process, including the next logical step of Intra-Afghan Dialogue wherein Afghans will themselves decide upon the future of their country,” he added.

"In this backdrop, Pakistan is highly dismayed by the surge of violence in Afghanistan from all sides. The so-called offensives are condemnable and will undermine the peace process. It is not right to seek an edge in dialogue through coercion.”

The prime minister noted that Pakistan had committed all diplomatic and security capital to success of the peace process.

“Pakistan implores all parties to recognise the importance of the moment and seize it,” the statement read. “Pakistan will not be party to any internal conflict in Afghanistan anymore.”

The prime minister’s statement comes on a day when Afghan officials claimed Taliban ambushed a security convoy in western Afghanistan, killing nine policemen, and in Kabul, a would-be attacker died when a bomb he was trying to plant at a private university detonated prematurely.

On April 20, gunmen attacked the communications ministry in the center of Kabul, interrupting months of relative calm in the Afghan capital. At least seven people were killed in the attack.

Earlier this month, Taliban fighters stormed army checkpoints in southern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border overnight and killed 20 troops, according to Afghan officials.

Talks between the Taliban and Afghan politicians and representatives that was due to take place in Doha last week collapsed amid bickering about Kabul’s lengthy list of delegates, which initially comprised 250 people.