Türkiye has renewed efforts to ease tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın visiting both countries as a senior Qatari security official held separate talks with Taliban leaders.
Kalın visited Kabul and Kandahar on Sept. 16, meeting senior Taliban officials to discuss security cooperation, counterterrorism, drug trafficking and regional developments, according to Turkish security sources.
He then traveled to Islamabad, where he met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Inter-Services Intelligence Director-General Asim Malik.
Türkiye reiterated its commitment to resolving Afghan-Pakistani tensions through dialogue during the meetings, the sources said.
Hamad bin Khamis al-Kaabi, deputy head of Qatar’s National Security Council, also visited Kabul, where he met Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid.
Taliban statements described the discussions as focused on bilateral relations and cooperation.
Türkiye and Qatar brokered a ceasefire between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Doha on Oct. 19, 2025.
Subsequent negotiations and mediation efforts, including those involving China, have failed to secure a lasting settlement.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban administration of sheltering Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch separatist militants responsible for attacks in Pakistan.
Kabul denies the allegations.
Pakistan has tied the reopening of trade routes to action against militants operating from Afghan territory.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan said on Sept. 17 that Islamabad was prepared to restore trade and transit links if its security concerns were addressed.
The visits also followed an August defense agreement between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed Aug. 7 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all three.
At an Aug. 31 meeting in Istanbul, the three countries pledged to support de-escalation and peaceful solutions to regional disputes.
A day after Kalın’s Pakistan visit was announced, a bombing and gun attack struck a police compound in Kohat, in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Sept. 18 attack killed 22 people, including 16 police officers, and wounded 103, Pakistan’s state news agency reported, citing police and hospital officials.
