World | Afghanistan
Kabul agrees to talks with Islamabad
Afghanistan accepted Pakistan's offer yesterday to resume talks which Kabul had boycotted after accusing its neighbour of being behind a series of attacks.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:35 August 3, 2008
Kabul: Afghanistan accepted Pakistan's offer yesterday to resume talks which Kabul had boycotted after accusing its neighbour of being behind a series of attacks.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani talked on the sidelines of regional summit in Colombo yesterday, their first meeting since July 15.
"At the suggestion of Pakistan, the Afghan side agreed to re-engage on all bilateral and multilateral forums," a presidential palace statement said.
They agreed the two governments needed to develop a common strategy to overcome the threat of terrorism and extremism. The two foreign ministers will meet soon, it said.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are both important US allies but their relations have for decades been dogged by a dispute over their border. Recently, Kabul has accused Pakistan of involvement in violence in Afghanistan, where the Taliban and Al Qaida militants routinely attack foreign and Afghan forces.
More than 15,000 people, including about 460 foreign troops, have been killed in Afghanistan since 2006 when the ousted Taliban relaunched their insurgency.
Afghanistan says Pakistan harbours the militants and Karzai last month said directly that Pakistani agents were behind the recent violence, including the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on July 7th which killed 58 people. India has blamed Pakistan's intelligence agency for the attack on its mission - a charge denied by Pakistan.
Islamabad backed the Taliban in Afghanistan through the 1990s but officially cut support after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Hundreds of Pakistani soldiers have been killed trying to dislodge Al Qaida and Taliban fighters from enclaves on the Afghan border.
Share this article
Afghanistan
Japan pledges $5b aid for troubled Afghanistan
Afghanistan commander calls for staying the course
Karzai: Corrupt ones not in new government
Nato strike kills 7 at coalition base
Afghan soldiers killed by NATO airstrike
Two members of Nato's Afghan forces missing
Brown warns Afghanistan to stamp out corruption
UN pulls half its staff out of Afghanistan
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
King Tut's tomb set for project
Observers note strange brown spots marring lavish wall paintings
-
Thieves caught with Dh6m in gold
Twenty-five gold bars were stolen from the luggage of a Malaysian tradesman
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
