State Dept.: Pakistani Taliban ‘Not Welcome’ at Truce Talks

Clinton to Press Pakistan on More Offensives in Visit

During their daily briefing today, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that the ongoing US talks with Taliban leadership in Qatar would not include any representation from the Pakistani Taliban.

According to Toner it was inappropriate to allow Pakistani Taliban into the talks because they are “carrying out violent attacks against Afghans and also international entities in Afghanistan.”

Toner’s comments come ahead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Pakistan, and Toner said Clinton would press Pakistan for more offensives against the militant factions in the area.

The Afghan government has been trying to start a new series of talks with the Taliban, since they have been mostly cut out of the US ones. Toner insisted that the Afghan government would eventually be brought into the US talks, saying it was important to have Afghan-Afghan reconciliation.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.