A Pakistani government delegation began an official visit to Kabil on Tuesday to hold meetings with the Taliban, a day after the armed group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), known as the Pakistani Taliban, announced the end of a ceasefire with Islamabad.
The Pakistani delegation, led by Foreign Secretary Hina Rabani Jar, has held talks with Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister Amir Jan Mutaqi to discuss bilateral relations.
Jar also met with Afghanistan’s acting deputy prime minister, Abdulsalam Hanafi, a meeting attended by Afghanistan’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Shahabuddin Delauar, as confirmed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry through its Twitter account.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry had pointed out in a statement published on its website that the two will discuss cooperation in the fields of education, trade and investment, as well as «regional security» issues.
«As a friend and neighbor of Afghanistan, Pakistan will reaffirm its enduring solidarity with the Afghan people, particularly through efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and create real opportunities for the economic prosperity of Afghan men, women and children,» it said.
The visit comes just a day after the TTP armed group ended the ceasefire and called on its militiamen to «carry out attacks wherever and whenever they can». He said he had shown «maximum restraint» and denounced that «the army and the spy agencies (of Pakistan) did not hold back».
The cease-fire had been in force for months in the midst of a process of talks between the Pakistani authorities and the armed group, a process mediated by the Afghan Taliban, who in August 2021 seized power in the neighboring country after the capture of the capital, Kabul.
The armed group, which differs from the Afghan Taliban in organizational matters but follows the same rigorist interpretation of Sunni Islam, brings together more than a dozen Islamist militant groups operating in Pakistan, where they have killed some 70,000 people in two decades of violence.
INAUGURATION OF THE NEW ARMY CHIEF On the other hand, during the day Asim Munir was sworn in as the new Army Chief, replacing Qamar Yaved Bajua, after an appointment process marked by tensions due to the criticism of the former Prime Minister Imran Jan, who demanded to be consulted.
Munir was chosen last week by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, ending weeks of speculation. Munir has become the 17th chief of the Pakistan Army after a ceremony in Rawalpindi, as reported by the newspaper ‘Dawn’.
During the same, Bajua has shown his gratitude for being appointed to the post and congratulated Munir, whom he described as «a professional, capable and principled officer. «I am confident that under his leadership, the army will reach new heights of success,» he said.
In this regard, Bajua expressed his hope that the appointment of Munir – who in the past headed the country’s intelligence services, at the head of which he was surprisingly dismissed by Jan – will be positive for the country, which is in the midst of a serious political crisis.
The crisis stems from the demonstrations called by Jan himself to demand early elections after he was dismissed in April following a motion of censure in Parliament. The former prime minister survived an assassination attempt after being shot several times during one of these protests.
The leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party was disqualified in late October by the election commission for failing to declare money from the sale of gifts and presents received from international leaders when he was at the head of the government.
His departure from office was followed by a growing political tension marked by scandals of transfugism and massive protests in favor and against the Prime Minister, denounced by the opposition alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as a «puppet» of the Army. The Armed Forces are considered to be the most powerful force in Pakistan since its independence from the British Raj in 1947.
