Pakistan says ‘no dialogue’ with Afghanistan as attacks persist

Pakistani media report a drone has hit a mosque in Bannu near the border, injuring at least five people.

International calls for mediation are growing as Pakistan and Afghanistan engage in cross-border fighting for a third day, in the most serious flare-up in violence between the neighbours in months that Pakistan says has brought them into “open war”.

The European ⁠Union’s ⁠foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged on Saturday ⁠for the countries to bring down the temperature and enter talks, warning the violence could affect the wider region.

Iran, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also urged de-escalation and mediation.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have said they are open to negotiations to bring an end to the conflict. But Pakistan on Saturday said there would be “no dialogue”, repeating its long-running demand that Afghanistan stop harbouring “terrorism”, an allegation Kabul denies.

“There won’t be any talks. There’s no dialogue. There’s no negotiation. Terrorism from Afghanistan has to end,” the Pakistani prime minister’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, told Pakistan TV, stressing that Pakistan’s responsibility was to protect its citizens and territory.