Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday implored Pakistan to battle the Taliban instead of trying to bring them to peace talks, in a new hard-line stance after a brazen insurgent attack killed at least 64 people. The attack last Tuesday on a security services office in the heart of Kabul appeared to be the deadliest assault on the Afghan capital since the militants were ousted from power in 2001. It cast a pall over international efforts in recent months to jump-start Pakistan-brokered peace talks, which stalled last summer after the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar. "I want to make it clear that we no longer expect Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table," Ghani said. "But we expect them to launch a military operation against their sanctuaries and leadership based on their soil. If they can't target them they should hand them over to our judiciary." Afghanistan for years has accused longtime nemesis Pakistan of sponsoring the Taliban insurgency. The Pakistani government recently admitted after years of official denial that the Taliban leadership enjoys safe haven inside the country. Addressing a joint session of the two houses of parliament following a Taliban bomb blast that killed at least 64 people and wounded hundreds in Kabul on Tuesday, Ghani branded the insurgents criminals fighting the legitimate government. But he stopped short of declaring a state of national emergency, pledging war against radical groups like Daesh, or the Haqqani network while suggesting there was still some hope of compromise with at least some Taliban. "The enemies of Afghanistan are Daesh, Al-Qaeda, the murderous Haqqani network and some of the Taliban who enjoy shedding the blood of countrymen," he said. He added that the doors of negotiation would remain open for those Taliban ready to stop bloodshed but added: "This opportunity will not be there forever." He said Taliban leaders sheltering in the western Pakistani cities of Peshawar and Quetta were "slaves and enemies of Afghanistan who shed the blood of their countrymen" and he called on the government in Islamabad to wipe them out. Ghani's remarks reflect his frustration after he expended substantial political capital since coming to power in 2014 in courting Pakistan in the hope of pressuring the militants to the negotiating table. "There are no good or bad terrorists... Pakistan should act on them as a responsible government," Ghani said. He also vowed a tough military response against the insurgents and pledged to enforce legal punishments including executions of convicted militants. "The time for amnesty is over," Ghani said. "For the Taliban who are ready to end bloodshed, we have left the door open for talks. But the door will not be open forever." — Agencies
