Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif says he wants to revive Afghan-Taliban talks

Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Saturday his government was trying to revive stalled peace talks between representatives of Afghan government and the Taliban. [caption id=“attachment_2442916” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Nawaz Sharif. AFP[/caption] Sharif, speaking at a televised news conference in the eastern city of Lahore, said Islamabad was once again prepared to play mediator to end the Taliban’s 14-year war against Kabul. There was no immediate comment from Kabul. Pakistan hosted a landmark set of meetings between the two sides in July. But a second round of scheduled talks was postponed after the Afghan government revealed that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had been dead for two years. Since then the Taliban briefly overran the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in an embarrassing blow to President Ashraf Ghani’s government. Kabul has also accused Pakistan of playing both sides by sheltering Taliban leaders. AP