Islamabad: Afghanistan has requested Pakistani assistance to persuade the Taliban to hold talks with the authorities in Kabul as a fierce battle between Afghanistan and rebel forces claiming dozens of lives every day throughout the country.
“We have great hopes of Pakistan.
I hope Islamabad will persuade the Taliban for the conversation again,” Afghanistan Minister of Afghanistan Hanif Atmar told Pakistan TV station on Friday.
Imran Khan’s prime minister, however, said several times that the Washington pulput deadline from Afghanistan had reduced Islamabad leverage for Afghan rebels.
The situation in Afghanistan has become more fluctuating, with the Taliban launching a blistering campaign and capturing the country’s main districts, in an increase when the US forces gradually resigned from the country.
Responding to the question of whether the Afghan government thought the US betrayed it, Atmar said that Washington had signed an agreement with the Taliban with honest intentions.
“The Taliban did not fulfill their part of the agreement and deceived the whole world.
The Taliban made a big mistake.
We have all extended the hand of friendship to them,” he said.
He said the Afghan government told the Taliban to honor the DOHA peace agreement, adding that Kabul had fulfilled the obligation of agreement relating to the prisoner swap and ensured the release of foreign troops from the country.
The Minister of Afghanistan further said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda have lured troops with other terrorist elements and fighting with the Taliban against Afghan government forces.
“We monitor the link between TTP, Taliban and Al-Qaeda every day,” said Atmar, added that the relationship between these groups would certainly exist.
According to the minister, the Afghan government has divided the militant groups of foreign fighters into different categories.
“The first among them is those who struggle for the global agenda, such as Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
Al-Qaeda militants and Daesh have their presence in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said.
“Then, we have regional players.
TTP, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Islamic Movement of the Islamic Uzbekistan (IMU), the East Turkish Islamic Movement (ETIM), Ansarullah and Jundullah,” Atmar said.
“All regions, not Afghanistan alone, are threats from these groups.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, India, Russia and the Middle East are in danger of these groups,” he said.
FM Afghanistan said that his country had talked about regional cooperation to overcome the issue of militancy without good or bad terrorist discrimination.
“The peace between Afghanistan and Taliban will ensure these elements do not find a safe place in Afghanistan,” he added.