Kabul: Abdullah Abdullah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Afghanistan government on Tuesday blamed Pakistan of nurturing and financing extremism in Afghanistan, Afghan media reported.
While talking to a council of ministers, Abullah said that the elements who commit crimes in Afghanistan are being financed and armed in neighboring Pakistan.
“In regards to Pakistan… in spite of our people’s skepticism, we took bold steps to improve relations, but unfortunately, Pakistan did cooperate in anti-terrorism activities over the past 10 months as we expected… and they issued good statements, but those who commit crimes against our people are financed there, they are armed there, and finally they keep Mullah Omar’s death a secret for two years, and then openly hold new leadership meetings on order to restore their identity under the leadership of a new criminal, to gain legitimacy and continue their carnage.”
“Not only has no change been detected in the military machinery of the Taliban over the last 10 months, but it has in fact gotten stronger… because they don’t feel any pressure, and they are armed and financed, and resort to unencumbered mobility.” He said.
Ghani’s statement
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan on Monday of sending “messages of war” and harbouring bomb-making camps, after a wave of devastating blasts in Kabul killed at least 56 people.
A Taliban suicide car bomber claimed lives of five people Monday near the entrance of Kabul´s international airport, the latest in a barrage of violence that has convulsed the Afghan capital since Friday.
“The last few days have shown that suicide bomber training camps and bomb-producing factories which are killing our people are as active as before in Pakistan,” Ghani told a news conference.
“We hoped for peace but we are receiving messages of war from Pakistan…. We can no longer see our people bleeding in a war that is exported from outside.”
Responding to Ghani’s accusations, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Tuesday, that Pakistan condemns the attacks in Afghanistan and stands by the Afghan brothers in this time of need.
“Having been the biggest victim of terrorism itself… Pakistan can feel the pain and anguish of the brotherly people… of Afghanistan,” a government statement said.
Pakistan already negated blame earlier
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Friday (August 7) that deceased Taliban chief Mullah Omar was neither killed nor buried in Pakistan.
“I want to reiterate that Mullah Omar neither died in Pakistan nor his burial was held here. The statements of his children and relatives are on record. Whether he died now or earlier, this is also a controversy that we do not want to be involved in,” Asif told Parliamentarians.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Asif said that the matter of a reported struggle within Taliban ranks for the leadership was their internal matter, and that Pakistan does not want to be involved in this controversy either.
The defence minister said that it would be a major success for Pakistan if talks between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators end on a positive note.
“Two rounds were held for the talks. One was held in China, the second in Pakistan. A third round was scheduled in Pakistan but after this news it was postponed, not cancelled. The process is still ongoing,” Khawaja Asif told lawmakers in the National Assembly.
Asif said that Americans and Chinese were taking part in the negotiations as observers.
“We still wish that this process continues and that Pakistan’s positive role becomes a part of history. Our efforts are that whoever succeeds their leadership continues with the negotiations process so that long-lasting peace can be established in the region,” he said.
