Pakistan’s prime minister offers talks to Afghanistan after deadly militant attacks

ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan’s prime minister on Wednesday offered talks to Afghanistan’s Taliban government in a renewed peace overture, about a week after negotiations between the two sides collapsed in Istanbul, raising fears that a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey could unravel and trigger new border clashes.

Shehbaz Sharif made the offer in a televised speech to parliament, a day after a deadly suicide bombing outside a court in Islamabad killed 12 people and wounded 27 others.

Still, he said that Pakistan wanted peace in the region, because it was good for both sides, though there were “Afghan footprints” in this week’s attacks.

“Let us sit with sincere hearts, rein in terrorism, and work together for peace and prosperity in the region,” Sharif said. He said that during the recent rounds of talks in Doha and Istanbul, Pakistan had only made one demand to Afghanistan: rein in the militants.

“We want peace to prevail,” he said, and “Afghanistan should realize that what is good for us is good for them. But it cannot be that they make promises and then fail to act.”

There was no immediate comment from Kabul to Sharif’s offer.

The latest development came hours after Pakistanis buried their loved ones killed in the suicide bombing at an Islamabad court, as authorities opened an investigation into the assault.

The bombing in Islamabad underscored the country’s challenges as the government struggles with a growing militancy, border tensions and a fragile truce with Afghanistan.

Tuesday’s attack at the district court, located on the edge of the city, raised alarms that despite multiple operations by security forces to crush the militants, they are still capable of mounting high-profile bombings – even in the Pakistani capital.

Pakistan has struggled with a surge in militant attacks in recent years, but until Tuesday’s bombing, Islamabad had largely been considered a safer place.

Forensic teams and police were combing Wednesday through debris at the site of the blast, which had been sealed to preserve evidence. Across the city, grief-stricken relatives were receiving the bodies of their loved ones at an Islamabad hospital.

Later, funeral prayers got underway for some of the victims. Most of the 27 people wounded in the bombing had been discharged home after treatment.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s bombing that the attack was “carried out by Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies” linked to the Pakistani Taliban.

He offered no evidence and also said that authorities were “looking into all aspects” of the explosion.

India and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which both reject Pakistan’s accusations, have been working to increase ties in areas like business and humanitarian aid, despite not having formal diplomatic relations.

Naqvi also blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack. Pakistan has long said that the Afghan Taliban have been sheltering leaders and fighters from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP – an accusation that Kabul denies.

The TTP denied involvement on Tuesday, while a breakaway faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility, only to have one of its commanders later contradict that statement.

The Islamabad attack drew widespread condemnation from the international community.

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that the Islamabad bombing was “a message for Pakistan” meant to show that insurgents can carry out attacks deep inside the country.

Asked whether Pakistan would retaliate and possibly target TTP hideouts in Afghanistan, he said that “it cannot be ruled out” and again urged Kabul to rein in militants operating from there.

On Monday night, four militants targeted an army-run college for cadets in the northwestern city of Wana. The police said four of the attackers – including a suicide car bomber – were killed and more than 600 people, including 525 cadets, their teachers and other staff, were safely rescued during the overnight assault.

The attack unfolded when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the college gate. Troops quickly fanned out across the campus to prevent the attackers from reaching the buildings where cadets and staff had taken shelter.

Footage aired on Pakistani news channels Wednesday showed soldiers evacuating students using wooden ladders and breaking windows to get inside the dormitories.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the attackers appeared to be attempting a repeat of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre – the deadliest assault on a school in the country – when a breakaway TTP faction killed 154 people, mostly children, at an army-run school in Peshawar.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told a gathering in Islamabad on Wednesday that the two attacks – in Islamabad and Wana – killed at least 15 people. His remark indicated that the Pakistani forces had suffered at least three fatalities at the cadet school.

Pakistan’s parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to elevate army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to the newly created post of chief of defense forces, pending the signature of President Asif Ali Zardari, which is considered a formality.

The opposition boycotted the vote, saying the bill could undermine democracy, while the government insists that the new title for the army chief was only meant to ensure better coordination with the navy and air force.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since last month, when Kabul accused Islamabad of carrying out drone strikes on Oct. 9 that killed several people in the Afghan capital.

The strikes sparked cross-border clashes that left dozens of soldiers, civilians and militants dead before Qatar brokered a cease-fire on Oct. 19. Two rounds of follow-up peace talks in Istanbul ended without progress after Kabul refused to provide written assurances that militants wouldn’t use Afghan soil to stage attacks in Pakistan.

The TTP, which is allied with but separate from the Afghan Taliban, has been emboldened since the Taliban 2021 takeover of Afghanistan.

As Pakistan’s tensions with both India and Afghanistan remain high, New Delhi and Kabul have upgraded ties.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, who obtained a temporary exemption from travel ban under U.N. sanctions, met in New Delhi in September. And last month, India said that its technical mission in Kabul would become a full embassy – the first high-level diplomatic engagement since the Taliban took power.

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Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, and Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, contributed to this story.