ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said the United States’ (US) war on terror “actually bred terrorists” in different countries of the world, including Pakistan.
The prime minister was responding to a question about terrorism in the broader Middle East region during an interview with journalist Fareed Zakaria on CNN.
PM Khan cited the example of his own country, where he said 80,000 people died after Pakistan sided with the US in the war on terror.
“Well, the US War on Terror actually bred terrorists. I can tell you from Pakistan’s example because Pakistan, by joining the US, we had 80,000 people dying in this, uh, the US War on Terror,” he said.
“And we saw the war, as it went along, and it produced more terrorists. And I am convinced it is exactly the same [as to] what happened in Afghanistan. Because these night raids in Afghanistan, these drone attacks.”
The Pakistani prime minister said the US “must review” its policy of drone strikes.
“We watched what happened here. They were telling people in the US that drones were very accurate and.. they actually got the terrorists,” he lamented.
“Bombs exploding in villages, you know how, how would they get only terrorists?“
PM Khan said he was afraid that people in the US didn’t know the amount of collateral damage in these drone strikes.
He said Pakistan, being a US ally, bore the brunt of these attacks in the form of revenge attacks.
“We bore the brunt because what happened was we were considered collaborators of the US. So, all the revenge attacks were against the Pakistani soldiers, the people of Pakistan,” the Pakistani premier said.
“There were suicide attacks going all over the country. We lost 80,000 people, but the US left.”
He said Islamabad turned into a fortress during the height of the conflict and suicide took place everywhere in Pakistan.
Compared to what used to happen, terrorism was almost insignificant now, PM Khan added.
About the situation in Afghanistan, he said the US must understand that disliking the Taliban government was one thing, but it was a question of almost 40 million Afghans.
“Half of them are in a very precarious situation,” the prime minister said. “They are facing winter, there are food shortages, malnutrition. The next couple of months, everyone is worried they could be the worst, already developing into one of the worst humanitarian crises.”
He said there was no alternative to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan at present, neither there was a possibility of a “change for the better.”
“The only alternative we have right now is to work with them and incentivize them in what the world wants, inclusive government, human rights, women rights,” PM Khan said.
“That’s the only way forward right now.”
He argued the flip side of abandoning the Afghan people or continuing sanctions was that Afghanistan could go into chaos.
“We already have 3 million Afghan refugees, three terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan into Pakistan,” he said, mentioning the Pakistani Taliban, Baloch insurgents and Daesh.
“Our best hope is that a stable Afghanistan will ensure stability or peace in Pakistan. It’s in everyone’s interest that it doesn’t descend into chaos.”
The Pakistani premier maintained that sooner or later the world would have to recognize the Taliban government.
Not recognizing them and freezing their accounts would only bring suffering to half the population of Afghanistan, he said.
US war on terror bred 'terrorism,' Pakistan PM says
https://arab.news/9anb5
US war on terror bred 'terrorism,' Pakistan PM says
- Says 80,000 Pakistanis killed after Islamabad seen as US collaborator
- PM Khan says world will have to recognize Taliban regime sooner or later
Pakistan opposition to continue protest over ex-PM Khan’s health amid conflicting reports
- Pakistan’s government insists that the ex-premier’s eye condition has improved
- Khan’s personal doctor says briefed on his condition but cannot confirm veracity
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition alliance on Monday vowed to continue their protest sit-in at parliament and demanded “clarity” over the health of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, following conflicting medical reports about his eye condition.
The 73-year-old former cricket star-turned-politician has been held at the high-security Adiala prison in Rawalpindi since 2023. Concerns arose about his health last week when a court-appointed lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, was asked to visit Khan at the jail to assess his living conditions. Safdar reported that Khan had suffered “severe vision loss” in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), leaving him with just 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
On Sunday, a team of doctors from various hospitals visited the prison to examine Khan’s eye condition, according to the Adiala jail superintendent, who later submitted his report in the court. On Monday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi observed that based on reports from the prison authorities and the amicus curiae, Khan’s “living conditions in jail do not presently exhibit any perverse aspects.” It noted that Khan had “generally expressed satisfaction with the prevailing conditions of his confinement” and had not sought facilities beyond the existing level of care.
Having carefully perused both reports in detail, the bench observed that their general contents and the overall picture emerging therefrom are largely consistent. The opposition alliance, which continued to stage its sit-in for a fourth consecutive day on Monday, held a meeting at the parliament building on Monday evening to deliberate on the emerging situation and discuss their future course of action.
“The sit-in will continue till there is clarity on the matter of [Khan's] health,” Sher Ali Arbab, a lawmaker from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party who has been participating in the sit-in, told Arab News, adding that PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and Opposition Leader in Senate Raja Nasir Abbas had briefed them about their meeting with doctors who had visited Khan on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters outside parliament, Gohar said the doctors had informed them that Khan’s condition had improved.
“They said, 'There has been a significant and satisfactory improvement.' With that satisfactory improvement, we also felt satisfied,” he said, noting that the macular thickness in Khan’s eye had reportedly dropped from 550 to 300 microns, a sign of subsiding swelling.
Gohar said the party did not want to politicize Khan’s health.
“We are not doctors, nor is this our field,” he said, noting that Khan’s personal physician in Lahore, Dr. Aasim Yusuf, and his eye specialist Dr. Khurram Mirza had also sought input from the Islamabad-based medical team.
“Our doctors also expressed satisfaction over the report.”
CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS
Despite Gohar’s cautious optimism, Khan’s personal physician, Dr. Yusuf, issued a video message on Monday, saying he could neither “confirm nor deny the veracity” of the government’s claims.
“Because I have not seen him myself and have not been able to participate in his care... I’m unable to confirm what we have been told,” Yusuf said.
He appealed to authorities to grant him or fellow physician, Dr. Faisal Sultan, immediate access to Khan, arguing that the ex-premier should be moved to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad for specialist care.
Speaking to Arab News, PTI’s central information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said Khan’s sister and their cousin, Dr. Nausherwan Burki, will speak to media on Tuesday to express their views about the situation.
The government insists that Khan’s condition has improved.
“His eye [condition] has improved and is better than before,” State Minister Talal Chaudhry told the media in a brief interaction on Monday.
“The Supreme Court of Pakistan is involved, and doctors are involved. What medicine he receives, whether he needs to be hospitalized or sent home, these decisions are made by doctors. Neither lawyers nor any political party will decide this.”
