ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: The Afghan embassy in Islamabad on Monday strongly refuted reports of Afghan Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil’s defection and arrival in the federal capital.

The acting Afghan envoy, Sohail Shaheen, when asked for confirmation, told Dawn that the report was baseless and that Mutawakil had not arrived here at all. When probed about his whereabouts, Shaheen said he might be in the hideout somewhere as the others were.

Foreign office spokesman also rebutted the report of Mutawakil’s arrival and holding of talks with foreign office officials and described it as mere ‘speculation’ on which no comments could be offered.

About the visit of Afghan ambassador Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, who had left the capital for Kandhar via Quetta on Saturday, Shaheen said, “he was expected back in the next couple of days”.

He, however, expressed his inability to reveal the exact destination of Zaeef nor could he disclose the purpose of his rushing back home.

It may be mentioned that two conflicting reports had appeared in a section of the press, one suggesting that the Afghan foreign minister had arrived in Islamabad to hold talks with Pakistani officials while the other said he had defected and was here to negotiate as representative of a rebel Taliban group for a broad-based government in Afghanistan.

Yet another report had said that the Taliban regime minister had fled to Dubai. Earlier, speculations spoke of Afghan foreign minister’s arrival, but the officials continued to refute them.

Opinion

Editorial

Doctor attacked
09 Jun, 2026

Doctor attacked

AN act of reprehensible violence has shaken the medical community. On Saturday, an employee of the Provincial Civil...
AJK flare-up
09 Jun, 2026

AJK flare-up

MATTERS have worsened in the stand-off between the Azad Kashmir government and the Joint Awami Action Committee,...
Fault lines
09 Jun, 2026

Fault lines

THE April 8 ceasefire that halted hostilities between Israel and Iran has encountered its most serious test yet....
Soft on traders
08 Jun, 2026

Soft on traders

THE Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme for traders with an annual turnover of up to Rs200m has been designed as a ‘pragmatic...
Ceasefire in name
Updated 08 Jun, 2026

Ceasefire in name

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce that was supposed to halt the conflict in April, yet neither appears willing to abandon negotiations altogether.
Damaged childhoods
08 Jun, 2026

Damaged childhoods

CHILD abuse is so prevalent that the UN ranked Pakistan as the least safe country for children. Even so, more than...