ISLAMABAD: A high-level delegation of Afghan political leadership including Speaker Wolesi Jirga Mir Rehman Rehamni has arrived in Islamabad today (Sunday) as the Taliban forces entered Afghan capital Kabul after taking all the major cities.
“Just received a high level Afghan political leadership delegation including Speaker Ulusi Jirga Mir Rehman Rehmani, Salah-ud-din Rabbani, Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, Ustad Mohammad Karim Khalili, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Ahmad Wali Massoud, Abdul Latif Pedram, and Khalid Noor,” Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq wrote on his Twitter handle.
Just received a high level Afghan political leadership delegation including Speaker Ulusi Jirga Mir Rehman Rehmani, Salah-ud-din Rabbani, Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, Ustad Mohammad Karim Khalili, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Ahmad Wali Massoud, Abdul Latif Pedram, and Khalid Noor.
— Mohammad Sadiq (@AmbassadorSadiq) August 15, 2021
The Special Representative said that matters of mutual interest will be discussed during the Afghan political leadership’s visit. While the objectives of the arrival remain unclear, chances of dialogue seem certain amid the rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan.
Pakistan is likely to host a regional conference on Afghanistan to be attended by foreign ministers of the immediate neighbours of the war-torn country as well as other stakeholders as part of a diplomatic push to prevent a civil war there.
The idea behind the initiative is to discuss the latest situation and evolve a consensus in order to prevent a civil war in Afghanistan. The neighbours of Afghanistan are concerned that the deteriorating situation in the war-torn country would have a negative impact on the region.
Pakistan has a central role in the Afghan endgame, but as the situation deteriorates in the neighbouring country, there are elements within Afghanistan as well as in the US which are holding Islamabad responsible for the mess.
President Ashraf Ghani’s government was left completely isolated on Sunday after the Taliban claimed the anti-Taliban northern stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif and the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Taliban enters Kabul
Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Taliban entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital and said they were awaiting a peaceful transfer of the city after promising not to take it by force as the United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.
According to the Associated Press, three Afghan officials said the fighters were in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman in the capital. Another senior official told Reuters the Taliban were coming in “from all sides” but gave no further details.
Reports from the Afghanistan media state that negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government are taking place inside the ARG Presidential Palace in Kabul, as Taliban fighters wait at Kabul’s gates for further instructions.
