Pakistan to continue facilitating Afghan peace talks: military

Pakistan will keep on facilitating the reconciliation process for peace and stability in Afghanistan, the country's military said on Sunday.

Pakistan army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua that Pakistan wants Afghan government in a complete control of the peace process.

His comments came after high-level talks were held near Islamabad between representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban, and the two sides agreed to continue the talks after Ramadan.

The Pakistan army spokesman said Pakistan has adopted a political framework to push forward the Afghan peace process.

"Peace in Afghanistan is Pakistan's major interest and Afghan government has the same interest. So those people should be identified who think this peace process does not serve their interests," he said.

In response to a question about the agreement signed recently between the intelligence agencies in view of some criticism in Afghanistan, he described the MoU as a good omen for cooperation.

"If we want to bring peace, there is a need for an enhanced cooperation at military and intelligence level to correct things on the ground. So agreements and MoUs will be signed to make this a long-term process. All these steps are aimed at strengthening and implementing the process," he said.

With regard to the military operation against the Taliban militants in North Waziristan, Bajwa expressed the hope that security forces would clear the mountainous Shawal Valley from the terrorists in the second phase of the offensive.

"The Security forces have inflicted heavy losses on the terrorists in the preliminary operation in Shawal Valley and the terrorists will be eliminated in the second phase," he said. Endi