Pakistan's special envoy for Afghanistan removed from office: Report

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan has been removed from his position due to policy differences, local media claimed on Saturday.

Asif Durrani, however, denied the reports, saying in fact he resigned for personal reasons.

According to Pakistani daily Dawn, Durrani had policy clashes with the country's powerful military establishment as his advice was regularly ignored.

The special representative position was created in 2020 by the then-government of Prime Minister Imran Khan after the US-Taliban Doha agreement. Afghanistan was taken over by forces of the Taliban in August 2021.

A senior diplomat, Durrani was appointed in May 2023 to remain in contact with neighboring Afghanistan and other countries and resolve the differences between Islamabad and Kabul over security issues in the region.

His predecessor, Moham­­mad Sadiq Khan, resigned in March 2023.

Pakistan accused the Afghan Taliban of hosting Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants inside Afghanistan, effectively giving them a base in Afghan territory to plan and carry out attacks against Pakistan.

The Taliban has consistently denied the allegations.

In a text message to Anadolu, Durrani denied the local media reports and said he has no clashes or bad feelings with the military establishment.

"I had 24 months of tenure but had to leave for personal reasons," he said, calling the reports of tension “exaggerated, a figment of the reporter’s imagination."

Relations between Islamabad and Afghanistan's interim Taliban administration grew more tense over the last two years due to militant attacks inside Pakistan, border clashes, and the deportation to Kabul of undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghan refugees.

Last October Pakistan gave a one-month deadline for all undocumented foreigners to leave or face forcible expulsion.