ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the United States had “really messed it up” in neighboring Afghanistan by taking too long to come to the understanding that there was no military solution to the conflict in the war-torn country.
Khan made these comments in an interview to PBS News Hour, broadcast early on Wednesday.
The Taliban have swiftly captured territory in recent weeks in Afghanistan and seized strategic border crossings with several neighboring countries. They are also threatening a number of provincial capitals — advances that come as the last US and NATO soldiers complete their final withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The insurgents are said to now control about half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers.
“First of all, they [US] tried to look for a military solution in Afghanistan, when there never was one,” Khan said. “When they finally decided that there is no military solution, unfortunately, the bargaining power of the Americans or the NATO forces had gone. When there were 150,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, that was the time to go for a political solution.”
“But once they had reduced the troops to barely 10,000, and then, when they gave an exit date, the Taliban thought they had won. And so, therefore, it was very difficult for now to get them to compromise. It’s very difficult to force them into a political solution, because they think that they won,” the PM added.
Khan said the best outcome for Afghanistan now was a “political settlement which is inclusive“: “So they form some sort of a government that includes all sorts of different factions there. Obviously, Taliban, part of that government.”
“The worst situation in Afghanistan would be if there’s a civil war and a protracted civil war. And from Pakistan’s point of view, that is the worst-case scenario,” Khan added.
The PM denied reports 10,000 Pakistani fighters had crossed over the border to help the Taliban in the most recent fighting.
“This is absolute nonsense. Why don’t they [US] give us evidence of this?” Khan said.
When asked what kind of relationship his country wanted with the US in the future, Khan said the “transactional” relationship of the past was no longer possible.
“Now, Pakistan’s position is very straightforward. We want to help and we have helped getting the Taliban to talk to the US, got them on the dialogue table. We have done our bit,” the PM said. “Now, what we cannot afford now, if there is civil war ... we will immediately get stuck into it. There will be terrorism within Pakistan.”
“We have just recovered from a desperate economic situation,” Khan added. “And we do not want to go through it again.”
US has ‘really messed it up’ in Afghanistan — PM Khan
https://arab.news/pyn33
US has ‘really messed it up’ in Afghanistan — PM Khan
- Pakistani prime minister tells PBS News Hour best solution for Afghanistan is “political settlement which is inclusive“
- Says “transactional” relationship no longer possible with United States, Pakistan can’t afford to get sucked into civil war in Afghanistan
Pakistan’s northwest issues weather alert as rain, snowfall forecast from Jan. 31
- Warning follows deadly avalanche that killed nine people in KP’s Chitral district earlier this month
- Authorities have already warned of possible landslides, avalanches in the country’s upper districts
PESHAWAR: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Pakistan’s northwest on Friday directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) authorities to take precautionary measures ahead of a fresh spell of rain and snowfall expected from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3.
The alert follows a warning issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Jan. 25 of possible landslides and avalanches in hilly areas, urging residents, travelers and tourists to exercise caution.
The PMD issued the warning after at least nine people were killed and a child was injured in an avalanche that struck a house in KP’s Chitral district earlier this month on Jan. 23.
“According to the Meteorological Department, a new spell of westerly weather is likely from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3,” KP’s PDMA said in a statement.
“Snowfall is expected at a few locations in upper areas, with a possible drop in temperatures.”
The statement added that rain and snowfall were expected in mountainous areas of upper districts including Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Upper and Lower Chitral, Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Buner, Malakand, Battagram, Shangla, Upper and Lower Kohistan and Kolai Palas.
The PDMA said intermittent rain was also likely in Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Charsadda, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, Kohat, Hangu, Karak, Bannu, North and South Waziristan, Lakki Marwat, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.
It warned that rain and snowfall could cause road closures and slippery conditions in upper tourist areas, including Naran, Kaghan, Kalam, and Chitral.
Tourists were advised to avoid unnecessary travel and exercise caution, it added.
Tens of thousands of tourists flock to Pakistan’s scenic northern and northwestern regions every winter to witness snowfall, often neglecting warnings from disaster management authorities.
In Jan. 2022, at least 21 people, including children, died after getting stuck in freezing temperatures during a snowstorm in the Pakistani hill station of Murree.
