ANKARA, July 3: Turkey has invited officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan to meet here to discuss the fight against the Taliban and boosting confidence between the troubled neighbours, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The meeting, scheduled for Friday, follows a summit between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Gen Pervez Musharraf here in April, when the two leaders pledged to step up joint efforts to curb the Taliban militia.

The meeting will bring together Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Kabir Farahi, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and the Turkish foreign ministry’s undersecretary Ertugrul Apakan, the Turkish statement said.—AFP