Pakistan, Afghanistan hold fresh peace talks in Saudi Arabia — sources

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Afghanistan's Taliban administration and Pakistan have held fresh peace talks in Saudi Arabia and agreed to maintain a ceasefire, the latest attempt to dial down tensions between the South Asian neighbors.

A ceasefire has held in recent weeks between the two South Asian militaries, after the outbreak of deadly border clashes in October, following talks hosted by Qatar and Turkey, although the two sides failed to come to a peace agreement.

The fresh talks were held in Saudi Arabia, three Afghan and two Pakistani officials, one of them based in Istanbul, told Reuters.

Both sides agreed on maintaining the ceasefire, they said.

Pakistan's foreign office, its military, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban and the government of Saudi Arabia did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

The talks followed a Saudi initiative, one of the senior Afghan Taliban officials said, adding: "We are open to more meetings to see a positive outcome."

People from the military, intelligence agencies and the foreign office represented Islamabad in the talks, the Pakistani officials said.

Islamabad says that militants based in Afghanistan stage attacks in Pakistan and that Kabul has not responded to repeated calls to take action against them. The Taliban denies that its soil is used by Pakistani militants.

Pakistani authorities said that suicide bombers, including one who killed 12 people in Islamabad, in recent attacks have been identified as Afghan nationals.

The October border clashes between Pakistani and Afghan militaries killed dozens of people in the worst violence on their border since the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021.

Both sides signed a ceasefire in Doha in October, but a second round of negotiations in Istanbul last month fell apart without a long-term deal.

Islamabad says it wanted Kabul to provide a written commitment to take action against the anti-Pakistan militants. The Afghan Taliban says it cannot be expected to guarantee security in Pakistan.

Ariba Shahid in Islamabad, Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul; Writing by Asif Shahzad/Reuters