Taliban team visits Islamabad on peace bid

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR/KABUL: A Taliban delegation was to arrive in Pakistan’s capital on Wednesday for a three-day visit, according to official statements, as both sides in the Afghan peace process continue consultations during a break in negotiations. The Taliban delegation, led by the militant group’s top political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is set to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and the foreign minister during the visit, according to a Pakistan foreign office statement. Two Taliban political sources in Doha told Reuters they would also hold a meeting in Pakistan among their leadership. The Taliban last visited Islamabad in August, just before the peace talks with the Afghan government began in Doha as the United States pushed for a political settlement while it withdraws troops from the war-torn country. After reaching an agreement on procedural ground rules this month, negotiators representing the government and the Taliban are taking a break until January 5 when they will continue to work on an agenda. Diplomatic sources said that both sides will continue to consult with their leaderships and other key players over the break. They added that the next stage will be very challenging as violence rises around the nation and the Afghan government calls for a ceasefire to be top of the agenda, while the Taliban says it should be discussed later. ATTACK KILLS 13 COPS At least 13 Afghan policemen were killed when Taliban militants attacked two checkpoints overnight in the north of the country, officials told AFP on Wednesday. The militants stormed and briefly held the checkpoints on the outskirts of Pule Khumri, capital of northern Baghlan province, officials said. The dead, and five wounded, had been taken to the provincial hospital, said Ainuddin Sayad, the director of the facility. Provincial police spokesman Ahmad Jawed Basharat confirmed the attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a wave of violence to rock the country in recent weeks. In a separate incident on Wednesday, five security personnel and 17 Taliban militants were killed when government forces countered an offensive in southern Uruzgan province, another official said. DEPORTATION FLIGHTS Several European countries have resumed deportation flights to Afghanistan that were suspended in the past couple of months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Afghan officials said on Wednesday. Germany, Austria, Sweden, Bulgaria, and Hungary have already taken steps to deport failed Afghan asylum seekers. A group of 11 rejected asylum seekers arrived in Kabul early on Wednesday after being deported from Austria and Bulgaria, an official from the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation told dpa. — Agencies