Pakistan Scrambles to Defend Afghan Peace-Related Initiatives

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - Top civilian and security officials in Pakistan say they “are trying very hard” to persuade Afghanistan’s Taliban to negotiate an end to the war with rival Afghans, pushing back against charges Islamabad is behind the Islamist insurgency’s battlefield victories. “Stop blaming the victim,” Moeed Yusuf told VOA in written remarks Tuesday while responding to Afghan allegations the Pakistani military continues to support the Taliban. He recounted more than 80,000 casualties and about $150 billion in economic losses Pakistan has suffered due to domestic militant backlash for joining the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. Would we be here today if those at the highest levels of leadership in the country in the past 20 years didn’t indulge in, empower & tolerate corruption & looting of the state? There should be as much anger at the failure of the Afghan political leadership as anything else

The Taliban have captured dozens of Afghan districts, several provincial capitals, and have threatened many more since early May when the United States and NATO allies began withdrawing their last remaining troops from the war-torn country after 20 years. In more than a few cases, U.S.-trained Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), have either surrendered or abandoned districts to escape Taliban advances, and some have fled into Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan. Top Pakistani security officials in background briefings this week ruled out the possibility of a Taliban takeover of Kabul, saying Afghan security forces are “better trained” and “better equipped” to prevent that from happening. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, argued that if Afghan military commanders “effectively use their cards” on the battlefield., and if U.S. political as well as financial assistance keeps coming in, insurgents will find it increasingly hard to sustain pressure on ANDSF and the war likely will be prolonged. Kabul blames Islamabad for the insurgents’ victories, citing the alleged presence of Taliban leaders and safe havens on Pakistani soil.   Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said last month that 10,000 jihadi fighters recently entered his country from Pakistan and other places to join the Taliban ranks in their fight against his national security forces. Social media users in Afghanistan have launched a campaign under the #SanctionPakistan, demanding the global community punish the country for its alleged support of the Islamist insurgents. Islamabad has consistently dismissed allegations it is providing any military assistance to the Taliban, blaming the nearly 3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan for being a perfect hiding place for insurgent fighters. “If [the] Afghan elite have looted and plundered their country rather than building trust of Afghans in their governance, the least they can do is accept that,” Yusuf said. “Trying to use Pakistan as a scapegoat is not only unfortunate, it is disingenuous and unethical. Everyone can see through the social media propaganda,” the adviser added. “We are told that over a trillion dollars were put into Afghanistan and much of that into the ANDSF to prepare the army and the security forces. Is Pakistan asking them to surrender? What is going on with this well-equipped and trained force?” Yusuf asked. “At most, the other side has guns mortars and rockets. We can’t understand, where have these trillions of dollars gone? That’s a question that I think, you know, Western countries need to ask.” On Tuesday, the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Shaharzad Akbar, said the Kabul leadership also shared responsibility for the deepening crisis facing her country. “Would we be here today if those at the highest levels of leadership in the country in the past 20 years didn’t indulge in, empower & tolerate corruption & looting of the state?” Akbar tweeted. “There should be as much anger at the failure of the Afghan political leadership as anything else,” she wrote.