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Former Senator says Pakistan ‘fully supporting’ Taliban advances in Afghanistan
Afrasiab Khattak said that Pakistani generals are ‘very happy’ with the developments in Afghanistan, adding that the civilian government has no role in shaping or executing this policy.
At a time when the Taliban is making rapid advances towards Afghan capital Kabul in the wake of US troops’ departure from the nation, a former Pakistani Senator has accused his country’s generals of “fully supporting” the terrorist group. Afrasiab Khattak, a member of the Awami National Party (ANP), said in an interview that “Pakistan is very happy with the Taliban’s advances.”
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“Pakistan is fully supporting the Taliban. The Taliban is in a way an instrument of Pakistan’s policy of strategic depth in Afghanistan. I think Pakistan is very happy with the Taliban’s advances. I mean to say Pakistani generals, as the civilian government has no role in shaping or executing this policy,” Khattak said in an interview to the BBC.
The former Senator’s Twitter timeline is full of tweets and retweets on the Afghanistan situation. “Made in Pakistan is written large on Taliban militia with full dependence on Pak sanctuary/training/supplies. Those looking at the Afghan National Security Forces, who are without the support of international forces, haven’t even theoretically looked at the Taliban without its foreign umbrella, the origin of forever war,” Khattak said in a tweet on August 11.
According to an estimation by the United States, whose troops are leaving Afghanistan nearly 20 years after landing in the country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the insurgents can take over Kabul in around 90 days. The terrorists have already taken control of several major areas, including Kandahar and Herat, the second and third-largest cities respectively. The Afghan government has reached out to the Taliban with a power-sharing deal in a bid to end the ongoing violence.
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Several countries, including India, have asked its nationals to leave Afghanistan, or sent missions to evacuate their citizens.
