Fearing a civil war in Afghanistan, Pakistan National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf has painted a bleak picture of its neighboring country, which may result in the Taliban slipping into Pakistan as refugees. Yusuf made these remarks during a briefing to the country’s Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, convened to discuss the current Afghan situation, The Express Tribune reported. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also present at the briefing.
Presenting a pessimistic picture of Afghanistan, Yusuf said, “The situation is bad and out of Pakistan’s control.” This comes as Joe Biden administration earlier this week announced that the US military will pull out of Afghanistan till the end of August. Meanwhile, the Taliban has continued with its offensive and claimed to have captured 85 per cent of the territory in the country.
According to a prominent Afghan expert, the Taliban would not engage in a dialogue with Ashraf Ghani’s government as long as the Pakistani military and intelligence continue to give sanctuary to terrorists. In an interview with German’s DW, Ahmed Rashid, a journalist and best-selling foreign policy author of several books about Afghanistan, said that the chaotic situation in Afghanistan “can suck in the neighboring countries.” “If that happens, that will be the end of Afghanistan,” he said.
“Why should they when their leaders and their families are safe? If Pakistan wants to show its sincerity, it needs to immediately force the Taliban leaders to either compromise or leave their sanctuaries in Quetta or in Peshawar,” Rashid said. On Saturday, Afghan President Ghani said he sees the Taliban responsible for the ongoing violence in the country in which at least 200 to 600 people are killed every day.
“The Taliban is responsible for the continuation of the war,” Ghani said, as quoted by TOLOnews. “Taliban should be asked whom they are fighting for? Who will benefit if Afghanistan is ruined and if Afghans are killed?”
