Islamabad/Kabul September 6

Afghanistan asked Pakistan to act against Afghan Taliban militants operating on its territory during weekend talks in Kabul, while Pakistan said the South Asian neighbours needed to build trust, officials said after the meetings.

The Afghan Taliban, ousted from power by a US-led coalition in 2001, has been gaining territory in its insurgency against the government led by President Ashraf Ghani.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have long accused each other of sheltering Taliban fighters and other Islamist militants who conduct attacks inside their territory, charges both deny.

Pakistan said after the meetings that both countries should work together to restore trust, and that an agreement had been reached to end a blame game over a spate of attacks. “We will work on establishing a memorandum of trust building to avoid such a situation in the future,” Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister said on state TV about his meeting with Ghani.