Islamabad, Kabul continue war of words as Pakistan rejects Karimi’s comments

Rather than getting close to sit together and to find a solution for stabilising the region, especially Afghanistan as the US drawdown from Afghanistan nears, the exchange of harsh statements against each other by top authorities of Islamabad and Kabul is picking up pace.

This time the statement did not come from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, but the National Afghan Army Chief Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi, who during a recent interview with an international media outlet accused Pakistan for controlling Taliban, as well as alleging that Islamabad was sheltering top Taliban leadership.

Gen Karimi also alleged that fighting in Afghanistan could be stopped “in weeks” if Pakistan told the Taliban to end the insurgency

Pakistan’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs categorically rejected the allegations of the Afghan military chief, and termed his comments as another attempt to internationally malign Pakistan.

“The allegations that Pakistan ‘controls’ the Taliban and that it has ‘unleashed’ them on Afghanistan have no basis. We reject them categorically,” added Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan.

The FO also said that Pakistan had exercised extreme restraint in the face of highly provocative language used by the Afghan civil and military officials over the last few months, not to mention some totally fabricated accusations.

In the past, Pakistan had consistently denied wielding influence over the Taliban, saying many militants have based themselves across the border in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar, from where they are known to have carried out attacks in north-western Pakistan.

Securing the long, porous border between the two countries had long posed a major challenge to the authorities of both these countries.

Elaborating further the MOFA officials in Pakistan further noted that such comments also reflected the insincerity on the part of some elements in Afghan government, adding that on the specific request of the Afghan leadership itself, Pakistan had been fully supportive of the reconciliation process. Our concrete steps to facilitate this process, are well known, the officials said.

Pakistan would not be deterred in its efforts to support the international community’s efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, the Pakistani FO further added.

We would, however, hope that the Afghan officials would refrain from leveling baseless allegations against their neighbouring country and to work towards creating a conducive environment that would help advance the shared objectives of peace, stability and prosperity, the FO concluded.