Abdullah Abdullah told Taliban they cannot run govt alone: Afghan journalist

• Reports claim Abdullah Abdullah is demanding a large chunk of the interim govt setup from the Taliban. 
• Pakistan can only advise Afghan leadership, decision is theirs to take, says FM Qureshi. 
• Pakistan has conveyed TTP concerns to Taliban, says FM Qureshi. 

Afghan politician Abdullah Abdullah has told the Taliban they "cannot run the government alone", says veteran journalist Tahir Khan.

Speaking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath on Tuesday, Khan said he was told by Abdullah Abdullah's aide that he had warned the Taliban that they cannot form a government alone. 

Khan said that while the Taliban have welcomed the prospect of an inclusive government, the group is not inclined towards including the Afghan political leadership in the government. 

"The Taliban will say that they have fought and expelled foreign forces from Afghanistan for the last 20 years, so why would they allow anyone else [political leadership in Afghanistan] to take a large chunk of the government," he said. 

Khan said another reason why a consensus-based government was taking time to form in Afghanistan was due to the presence of foreign troops in the country. 

"They consider it [the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan] a continuation of the same aggressive tactics [of the West] against them," he said. "However, consultations are continuing each day from forming the cabinet to every other issue."

On the Panjshir valley conflict, Khan said the Taliban will face difficulty in bringing the area under their control as the group never succeeded in making it a Taliban bastion during their previous tenure. 

However, he said it was expected that the Taliban will, in the coming days, exert more pressure in Panjshir valley to control it.

Pakistan concerned over TTP elements in Afghanistan

Speaking on the show, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi acknowledged that Pakistan was concerned about the TTP factor as the banned outfit had used Afghan soil against Pakistan in the past. 

"We informed then-Afghan president Ashraf Ghani about the TTP presence in Afghanistan. He listened, but did not take action," said the minister. 

Qureshi said Pakistan had conveyed its concerns to the Taliban leadership about the presence of TTP militants in the country. 

Speaking on the delay in the formation of an interim set up in Afghanistan, FM Qureshi said Pakistan, as a neighbour of Afghanistan who harboured good intentions towards it, could only advise the Afghan leadership. 

"The decision is theirs to take," he said, adding that Islamabad would wish to see a broad-based, inclusive government in the neighbouring country.

Afghan Taliban form commission to address Pakistan’s concerns about TTP

A high-powered Afghan Taliban commission tasked with addressing Pakistan’s concerns about the TTP commenced its proceedings, according to a report published in the Voice of America a few days ago. 

The three-member commission was made on the directives of Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada to look into Islamabad’s complaints that the TTP is using Afghan soil to plot cross-border terrorist attacks.

“TTP leaders are being warned [by the Afghan Taliban commission] to settle their issues with Pakistan and return to the country along with their families in exchange for a possible amnesty by the Pakistani government,” reads the report.

The commission will also put pressure on anti-Pakistan elements to stop their subversive activities against the country, the report said.

However, Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have not issued any formal statement on the development, read the report.