Pakistan Afghanistan Conflict: Whispers travel fast when peace talks carry secrets. That is what unfolded in Turkey during the Afghanistan-Pakistan negotiations that paused a violent season in September and October. A source quoted by Afghanistan’s TOLO News described a moment no one at the table expected. Pakistan acknowledged that drone strikes inside Afghanistan follow a “confidential agreement” with a “foreign partner”. Delegates conveyed that Islamabad cannot stop these attacks. Breaking the accord, they explained, does not remain an option.
“It was also revealed that, for the first time, Pakistan admitted to having an agreement with a foreign country allowing drone strikes, and that it cannot prevent such strikes because breaking the agreement is not possible,” the Kabul-based news outlet reported.
Hosted in Ankara, the peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan gained attention due to the uneasy truce holding since October 15. Negotiators from Taliban and Islamabad sat across the table searching for relief from the bloodshed that swept the Durand Line. Pakistan requested that Afghanistan endorse Islamabad’s right to carry out strikes inside Afghan territory during any future Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacks. This request stayed unresolved when the Turkish session ended.
The source attending the negotiations described the Pakistani diplomats as uncertain about their own script. They appeared scattered during exchanges, offered no structured arguments and repeatedly showed signs of wanting to withdraw from the process.
They even appealed to the Taliban delegation to recognise Pakistan’s right to take action inside Afghanistan whenever the TTP initiated attacks.
No one named the foreign state behind the drone operations. The admission alone changed the tone inside the room. The skies above Afghanistan suddenly seemed less mysterious.
The timing of this disclosure arrives months after Pakistan signed its landmark Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia in September. The pact promised joint protection from external threats and marked a deepening of financial and military cooperation.
Islamabad worked actively to restore strong ties with the United States as well during this same phase. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif travelled Washington to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, with Army Chief Asim Munir present in a show of state alignment.
The US president issued a demand in public for the return of Bagram airbase from Afghanistan’s Taliban government. His warning echoed across the region. He said that if the airbase did not come under US control again, “bad things would happen”.
Sharif hailed “Trump’s leadership” across multiple briefings and praised his “role in the India-Pakistan ceasefire as a historic achievement”. He nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize as well.
News agency Reuters collected updates from two individuals familiar with the Ankara discussions. They said the talks concluded without any breakthrough or roadmap. Both sides accused the other of blocking progress.
The war that preceded this fragile calm erupted in September. Pakistani forces launched precision airstrikes into Afghan territory. Kabul and Kandahar were among the places receiving airborne attacks aimed at TTP strongholds. Drone shots and JF-17 bombings left more than 200 people dead.
Afghan officials counted women and children among the dead after a strike in an eastern market. Pakistan insisted that its focus remained fixed on TTP commanders.
Afghan troops responded from border positions. The Durand Line lit up with artillery and ground fighting across painful flashpoints such as Spin Boldak and Kurram. At least 23 Pakistani soldiers lost their lives. Hundreds suffered injuries.
Days before both sides accepted the ceasefire, Taliban officials announced that Kabul had experienced two drone strikes in one night. Tension built fast. Foreign policymakers in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United States urged both capitals toward a temporary halt. A 48-hour ceasefire on October 15 began, and the guns have stayed mostly silent while each side reports violations.
Peace talks were meant to carry that silence forward. The revelation in Turkey introduced fresh questions instead. Who commands the drones that cross Afghan airspace? Who decides the timing? Who benefits from secrecy? The answers remain locked inside that unnamed agreement.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
