UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has rejected the Taliban takeover of the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, declaring that the occupation of any part of Afghanistan by any group was `unacceptable` to Islamabad.

In his first policy statement since the Monday takeover, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry assured Kabul that it would not recognise any illegal move against the Afghan government.

`Afghanistan is being run by a democratically elected and legitimate government and occupation of its territory by any group is unacceptable,` the top Pakistani diplo-mat told a news briefing in New York.

At a White House news briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest hoped that Afghanistan`s neighbours would `continue to strongly support Afghan President Ghani and the National Unity government.

Hours after the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan`s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah told the UN General Assembly that some of the attackers had come from outside Afghanistan.

`The presence of terrorist sanctuaries and support networks in Pakistan continue to cause trouble inside Afghanistan,` he said.

And in a meeting with tribal elders in Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declared that Pakistan was `not a brotherly country`.

`For fourteen years we have been in an undeclared war with Pakistan and we want to end this war with your help,` he told the tribal chiefs.

But the Pakistani foreign secretary refused to respond to these allegations when asked for comments. `We should avoid this blame game and find means to a lasting solution between the two countries,` he said. `Pakistan believes that the solution to the Afghan issue lies in further cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan stood for Afghan reconciliation and a peacefully negotiated settlement of all issues.

`The solution does not lie in blame game, rather it lies in cooperation,` he added.

Mr Abdullah, however, said that Afghanistan opted out of the Pakistan-backed talks in Murree when it discovered that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar had died three years ago in Pakistan. `A loss of trust can have irreparable consequences for all sides,` he said.-M.H. and A.I.