ISLAMABAD: Pakistani national security adviser Dr. Moeed Yusuf has said Pakistan had helped Washington bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table, but was cut out of the negotiations and now being blamed for the outcome in war-torn Afghanistan where the Taliban captured power earlier this month without a negotiated political settlement being worked out.
Afghan security forces whom the United States helped train crumbled as Taliban militants made their way through Afghanistan in less than two weeks, capturing Kabul on August 15 and leaving the United States with few partners on the ground.
Pakistan has deep ties with the Taliban and has been accused of supporting the group as it battled the US-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul — charges denied by Islamabad. When the Taliban captured Kabul, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said Afghans had broken the “shackles of slavery.”
In a phone interview to the Washington Post, published on Wednesday, Yusuf said the United States and Pakistan had a shared interest in working together in Afghanistan, but would need to fix their bilateral relationship.
“The US-supported government in Kabul used Pakistan as a scapegoat to excuse its own ineptitude, corruptions and unpopularity,” Yusuf said, as quoted by the Post. “Pakistan helped bring the Taliban to the negotiating table at Washington’s request, got cut out of the negotiations and is now being blamed for the outcome.”
“Pakistan is the victim. We had nothing to do with 9/11. … We teamed up with the US to fight back … and after that there is a major backlash on Pakistan,” Yusuf said. “But let’s let all that pass. We need to work out how to move forward as partners, because neither side can do without the other in terms of stability in the region.”
He added: “Right now, in the situation we are in, how are US and Pakistan’s interests not aligned? I’m not asking for any sympathy for Pakistan. I’m thinking in terms of pure US selfish national interests. How does it help to push away a country of this size, stature and power?”
Yusuf said a security vacuum in Afghanistan would see terror outfits take root again, urging the United States to increase its diplomatic and economic involvement in Afghanistan and find a way forward to engage diplomatically with the Taliban.
The United States should not isolate Afghanistan to punish its new rulers, Yusuf said.
“Now that the Taliban has the whole country, they don’t really need Islamabad as much anymore,” he said. “Assistance and recognition is the leverage. Who has that? It’s the Western countries that have much more leverage in Afghanistan than Pakistan.”
Pakistan says helped US bring Afghan Taliban to table, was cut out of negotiations
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Pakistan says helped US bring Afghan Taliban to table, was cut out of negotiations
- National security adviser says US-backed government in Kabul used Pakistan as scapegoat to excuse own “corruptions and unpopularity”
- Asks US to consider “selfish national interest” and answer: “How does it help to push away a country of this size, stature and power?”
Six cops killed as IED explosion targets police vehicle in northwestern Pakistan
- Blast in northwestern Tank district kills inspector, additional sub-inspector, driver and three members of elite force personnel, says police official
- Attack takes place as Islamabad grapples with surge in militant attacks in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan
PESHAWAR: Six cops were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast that targeted a police vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Tank district on Monday, a police official said as Islamabad struggles to contain surging militant attacks in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
The IED explosion targeted an armored police vehicle on the Gomal-Jutta Road near the Kot Wali Canal area, Tank police spokesperson Younas Khan said. The blast killed an inspector, an additional sub-inspector, the driver of the vehicle and three members of the police’s elite force personnel.
“The armored police vehicle was completely damaged in the explosion,” Khan said.
He said senior police officials, including District Police Officer (DPO) Tank Shabbir Hussain Shah reached the site of the blast to collect evidence and carry out an operation in the nearby rugged terrain.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the incident, directing authorities to carry out an investigation into the incident.
“The terrorists responsible for this attack will be brought to their logical end at the earliest,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office.
KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi praised police for their sacrifices against militancy, vowing to bring all those involved in the incident to justice.
“Anti-peace elements would not succeed in their nefarious designs by targeting the police force,” Afridi said as per a statement released from his office.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant outfit has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks targeting law enforcement personnel in KP in the past. The TTP has frequently targeted convoys of security forces, police stations and check-posts besides kidnapping government officials in the region.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil to armed outfits such as the TTP. It has also alleged that India backs militant groupswho carry out attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
