National Security Advisor, Hamduallah Mohib, says Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will break the backbone of Taliban on the battlefields in the coming four months.
In an exclusive interview with Tolonews, Mohib claimed that the stalemate in the war has already been broken and if the pressure on Taliban continues the way it has been in the recent past four months, the Taliban’s backbone will be broken.
Mohib says that Pakistan still supports Taliban, acknowledging that peace in Afghanistan is impossible as long as Islamabad’s concerns are not addressed.
“Without support from Pakistan, Taliban cannot fight the Afghan war for a single day. As it became clear during the recent peace talks, the group even cannot afford flight tickets for its delegates,” Mohib said.
Mohib believes that an end can only be put to the Afghan war after Afghan government talks to Taliban’s supporters and funders.
“We should directly talk to Pakistan. As long as we fail to bring up Islamabad’s concerns and address them, peace in Afghanistan is impossible,” Mohib said, adding that some changes have been made in Pakistan policy towards Afghanistan.
Mohib, who has been sidelined from meetings with US and NATO officials after his controversial remarks about American envoy for Afghan peace, said in the interview that he does not regret his statements.
During his visit to Washington a few months back, Mohib harshly criticized Zalmay Khalilzad for his approach for peace with Taliban, accusing him of behaving like a “viceroy” rather than peace envoy.
Stressing on his stance, he claimed that after his remarks, the US officials requested him to apologize, but he refused to do so and the president also opposed his resignation.
NSA says current peace talks between US diplomats, led by Khalilzad and Taliban discouraged Afghan forces.
“As the National Security Advisor of the country, I have responsibility to the people and I put national interests before everything else. It was just a hard line and we can be witness to tougher stances in future,” Mohib warned.
