Pakistan’s Kabul envoy says in contact with Taliban, met Mullah Baradar in Qatar

Head of the Taliban delegation Abdul Salam Hanafi (R), accompanied by Taliban officials (2R to L) Amir Khan Muttaqi, Shahabuddin Delawar and Abdul Latif Mansour, walks down a hotel lobby during the talks in Qatar's capital Doha on August 12, 2021. (AFP)

• Mansoor Ahmad Khan says there should be “no room” for militant groups on Afghan soil 
• Islamabad wants inclusive government in Afghanistan for durable peace, envoy reiterates

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan said on Thursday Islamabad was in contact with the Taliban and facilitating the international community after the fall of Kabul last week, local media reported. 

The Taliban captured Kabul, the last stronghold of the President Ashraf Ghani government, without a fight on Sunday.

The insurgents have since said they want peace and will not take revenge against old enemies. They are also holding talks with different Afghan leaders with what they say is the aim of forming an inclusive Islamic government in Afghanistan. 

“[I] was with our special envoy in Qatar and there we had talks with Mullah Baradar and other Taliban affiliates,” Khan told Pakistan’s Geo News. “We had talks with the Afghan delegation headed by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah,” he said, adding that Islamabad had “contacts with both sides.”
 
Pakistan seeks an inclusive political government in Afghanistan that should offer “no room” to militant groups, Khan said, whether the anti-Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Daesh, Al-Qaeda or the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, an Uyghur militant organization founded in Western China.

On Friday, Khan said on Twitter Islamabad was assisting the international community with the evacuation of diplomats and nationals. 

“Pakistan Embassy Kabul is arranging evacuation of 350 foreign nationals, Pakistanis and Afghans on two special flights by PIA (Pakistan International Airlines),” he said in a tweet. “Embassy has made arrangements at our own compound.” 

Pakistan Embassy Kabul is arranging evacuation of 350 foreign nationals, Pakistanis & Afghans on two special flights by PIA. Embassy has made arrangements at our own compound. ⁦@SMQureshiPTI⁩ @fawadchaudhry⁩ ⁦@ForeignOfficePk⁩ ⁦@FMPublicDiploPK⁩ pic.twitter.com/RpVClbFRzJ

— Mansoor Ahmad Khan (@ambmansoorkhan) August 20, 2021

On Thursday, Khan reached out to Afghan leaders for the first time since Kabul fell to the Taliban, meeting former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, in Kabul.