Pakistan, Afghan Taliban hold second Istanbul talks to push ceasefire

Delegations from Pakistan and Afghanistan met in Istanbul on Saturday for a second round of talks aimed at turning a recent truce into a lasting ceasefire after weeks of deadly clashes along their shared border, Pakistani officials and Taliban spokesmen said. The talks follow a first round in Doha last weekend mediated by Qatar and Turkiye, and come after exchanges of gunfire and Pakistani airstrikes in mid October that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded and prompted the closure of major border crossings.

Pakistan has pressed the Afghan Taliban to take concrete action against militant groups it says operate from Afghan territory, chiefly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Balochistan Liberation Army. Islamabad is seeking a verifiable monitoring mechanism that would allow intelligence sharing, the dismantling of suspected sanctuaries, arrests or expulsions of key figures and third-party oversight of compliance, officials said. Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson, Tahir Hussain Andrabi, said the Doha talks had been fruitful and that Islamabad wanted the positive trend to continue in Istanbul.

The Afghan side has repeatedly denied that Kabul shelters groups that attack...