The National Directorate of Security (NDS) in a statement on Monday condemned the recent remarks by Hamid Gailani, Chairman of Mahaz-e-Milli party, that the Taliban leaders are in Afghanistan.

 “The Taliban leaders are on the other side of the Durand Line and are in large cities in Pakistan and the International Community also accepted this now,” it said.

On Saturday, Gailani said that most Taliban leaders are in Afghanistan and that they want to negotiate, also with other countries involved.

Gailani also said that he, along with religious scholars, will soon form a delegation to engage in talks with the leaders of the Taliban.

That will be followed by meetings with countries that have been involved in the Afghanistan situation to talk about bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan, Gailani said addressing a gathering of religious scholars in Kabul.

Participants at the gathering said hundreds of religious scholars have come together and under Gailani’s leadership will hold talks with Taliban leaders to bring peace to Afghanistan.

Gailani added that he does not believe reports that Taliban leaders are outside Afghanistan’s borders.

“I do not accept the rumors that say Taliban leaders are in other places. They (government) say this because they cannot do anything else and they use this as an excuse. Most of Taliban leaders are in their own country. I say to the Taliban this is your country and also to the government that this is your country,” he said.

The Afghan peace process has been a tough topic for many years and many meetings have been held in this regard, even outside of Afghanistan. 

However, so far none of those meetings have resulted in bringing peace and stability to the war-torn country.