In a meeting with Per Albert Ilsaas, Norway’s charge d’affaires to Afghanistan, in Kabul, Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has urged Pakistan to pursue diplomacy and dialogue amid rising tensions between the two sides, which have escalated following deadly cross-border airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan.
According to a statement from the Taliban-run foreign ministry, Muttaqi said he hoped Pakistan would “prioritize stability and dialogue over the use of force.”
In recent months, Pakistan and the Taliban have experienced some of their most serious tensions since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Despite holding two rounds of talks in Istanbul, the two sides have failed to reach any agreement. Pakistan has repeatedly pressed the Taliban to take action against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group Islamabad says is operating from Afghan soil. The Taliban have denied those claims, calling TTP’s presence an “internal issue” for Pakistan.
However, a United Nations monitoring group reported earlier this year that the TTP maintains an estimated 6,000 fighters inside Afghanistan.
The tensions escalated sharply once again after Taliban officials accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes on Monday night in three Afghan provinces — Khost, Paktika, and Kunar. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that at least 10 civilians were killed in Khost during the strikes. Pakistan has not publicly confirmed the operations and has denied prior allegations of cross-border attacks.
During his meeting with Ilsaas, Muttaqi reiterated the Taliban’s desire for “good relations with all countries, including Pakistan, based on mutual respect,” and emphasized what the Taliban described as a “balanced foreign policy rooted in economic cooperation.”
According to the statement, the two sides also discussed humanitarian concerns, regional security, and the situation of Afghan refugees returning from neighboring countries. Ilsaas reportedly condemned the targeting of civilians in the recent airstrikes and expressed support for “constructive engagement” with the Taliban.
This visit marked the Norwegian diplomat’s second trip to Kabul in five months. Norway is one of the few Western countries maintaining diplomatic contacts with the Taliban, despite not formally recognizing their rule.
In early 2023, Norway accepted the appointment of a Taliban diplomat, Najibullah Sherkhan, as first secretary at Afghanistan’s embassy in Oslo. The Scandinavian nation also hosted a high-level Taliban delegation in Oslo in January 2022 — the first formal visit of its kind to a European capital following the Taliban’s return to power.
However, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry later said it would limit further engagement in response to the Taliban’s ongoing restrictions on women and girls.
