Pakistan says cannot kill Taliban while inviting them to peace talks

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday he had told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that Pakistan was prepared to help revive stalled Afghan peace talks but could not bring the Taliban to the negotiating table “and be asked to kill them at the same time.”

Sharif, who was speaking at a Washington think tank a day after talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, did not elaborate, but was apparently referring to U.S. calls for Pakistan to crack down on Taliban and other militant sanctuaries within Pakistan.