Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held phone calls with his counterparts from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to discuss the latest developments between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Following the recent escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Fidan conducted telephone diplomacy with senior officials from the four countries.
According to information provided by Turkish Foreign Ministry sources to Anadolu Ajansı (AA), the talks addressed the latest developments between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Fidan spoke separately with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Acting Foreign Minister of the Afghan administration Amir Khan Muttaqi, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
Tensions Between Afghanistan and Pakistan
After Pakistan announced that it had carried out airstrikes in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, Afghanistan declared that it had launched retaliatory operations.
According to Anadolu Agency, multiple explosions were reported in central Kabul at around 01:00 a.m. local time.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that “133 people on the Afghan side were killed and more than 200 injured” in the operations.
Pakistani media claimed that an ammunition depot in Nangarhar was struck and that “more than 80 military vehicles” were destroyed.
Reports in the Afghan press cited Deputy Spokesperson of the Afghan administration Hamdullah Fitrat as claiming that “55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and the bodies of 23 soldiers were seized” in retaliatory attacks.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif stated that “there is now open war.”