Afghan opposition says 'road to peace' is through Pakistan

Kabul, July 23 (ANI): Afghan leaders believe the solution to the Afghan endgame and the road to peace in their country is through Islamabad.

According to two influential Afghan political figures - one heading the main opposition alliance and the other representing the Afghan High Peace Council - Pakistan still controls the Taliban.

"The Americans can't do it, it is only Pakistan which can persuade the Taliban and the Haqqanis to come to the negotiating table," the Express Tribune quoted Ahmed Zia Massoud, who heads the main opposition alliance called the Afghan National Front (ANF), as saying.

Massoud said efforts to reach out to the Taliban would remain futile unless Pakistan is part of the process.

"Pakistan always plays politics, we know Taliban are still in their (Pakistan's) control," said Maulvi Qayamuddin Kashaf, a senior member of the Afghan High Peace Council - a forum mandated to hold direct negotiations with the Taliban.

Pakistan is considered crucial to push for a peaceful transition in post-2014 Afghanistan when most of the U.S.-led international forces leave the country. (ANI)