Afghan President Speaks To PM Modi, Refuses To Take Pakistan PM’s Phone Call After Kabul Attack

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani reportedly refused to take a condolence phone call on Thursday from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi after an attack in Kabul killed more than 120 people, TOLO News has reported.

He, however, spoke to other world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and “discussed the need for an end to terrorist sanctuaries”.

The Afghan government has accused Pakistan of providing support for the terrorists who carried out the attack. According to the daily’s report, the Afghan President has sent a delegation to Islamabad "to hand over evidence related to recent attacks in Kabul" to be shared with the Pakistan Army.

Pakistan on Thursday said it had received a delegation from Afghanistan, but it did not say anything about the alleged phone call.

The Afghan President’s refusal to take Abbasi’s phone call comes days after United States President Donald Trump refused to hold talks with the Taliban following a recent string of deadly attacks in the war-torn country.

“I don’t think we’re prepared to talk right now. It’s a whole different fight over there. They’re killing people left and right. Innocent people are being killed left and right,” he recently told visiting members of the UN Security Council.

"We're going to finish what we have to finish" in Afghanistan, he had noted.

Trump’s statement came after the Taliban offered to hold talks with representatives from Pakistan, China, Qatar and ‘others’, Voice Of America reported.

Afghanistan has welcomed Trump’s statement, saying fighting should continue against the ‘irreconcilable’ factions of the Taliban.