The latest in a long line of failed peace processes came to an end today, with the Afghan government announcing that it was suspending all efforts at direct talks with the Taliban in the wake of the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the chairman of the peace council.

As has often been the case, the Afghan government insisted the failure was entirely the fault of the Pakistani government, claiming that the Pakistani military’s spy agency was involved in and potentially “ordered” the attack.

That allegation fits in neatly with a number of US claims that the Pakistani military ordered several attacks inside Afghanistan, including a strike on the US Embassy, in a war of words which has brought US-Pakistani relations to an all time low.

Pakistan, for its part, denies the allegations. They also said it was “irresponsible” of the Afghan government to make such allegations and that Rabbani was a long-time friend of the Pakistani government.

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