Afghan Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah has called on Pakistan to halt support to the Taliban in Afghanistan, and raised questions regarding the sincerity of Islamabad to act against militants waging war in the country.
Speaking during a meeting of the Council of Ministers, CEO Abdullah alleged that the Taliban still receives support from within Pakistan.
Abdullah pointed towards the recent military operation across the Durand Line, which resulted in heavy casualties for Taliban militants, saying, “The huge amount of insurgents killed in a single incident near Pakistan shows that Taliban are still supported within Pakistan.”
At least 150 insurgents were killed during clashes with Afghan security forces along the Durand Line in the southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan last week.
Reiterating Kabul’s stance for the betterment of ties between the two nations, CEO Abdullah insisted that support to insurgent groups must be stopped in a bid to build trust between the two neighbouring countries.
In a response to the latest statement by the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif regarding Islamabad’s efforts to revive stalled peace talks, Abdullah said that the Afghan government expects Pakistan to stop supporting the Taliban.
Afghan officials have long been criticising Pakistan for supporting the Afghan Taliban and other insurgent groups through safe havens in Pakistan, specifically the Taliban and Haqqani terrorist network.
Diplomatic observers in Islamabad and Kabul say that both sides are accusing each other of harbouring terrorists. They said that Pakistan Taliban head Mullah Fazlullah is being provided shelter by Afghanistan and despite repeated demands by Pakistan he has not been handed over to Islamabad. He was behind the terrorist attack at Army Public School in Peshawar.