Kabul: The Taliban government, which leads Afghanistan, announced on Saturday the failure of the latest round of peace talks with Pakistan in Turkey, blaming Islamabad's "irresponsible and uncooperative" approach for the collapse. Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement published on social media: "During the discussions, the Pakistani side tried to place the entire responsibility for its security on the Afghan government, while showing no willingness to assume responsibility for Afghanistan's security or its own." He added: "The irresponsible and uncooperative stance of the Pakistani delegation led to no result." Islamabad did not immediately comment.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, a day earlier, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had hinted at the failure of the negotiations, saying: "The responsibility lies with Kabul to fulfill its commitments to combat terrorism, which it has failed to do so far." He added: "Pakistan will continue to exercise all necessary options to protect the security of its people and its sovereignty."

On Thursday, the two countries held talks in Istanbul in an attempt to finalize a ceasefire agreement reached on October 19 in Qatar. The negotiations followed the deadliest clashes between the two neighboring countries since the Taliban returned to power in 2011.