Kabul [Afghanistan], August 12 : Islamabad should target safe hideouts of the Taliban along its border with Afghanistan, said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during his phone call with Army Chief of Staff of Pakistan General Qamar Javed Bajwa. During a presser on Wednesday, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that secretary Austin believes the safe havens to be the main cause behind insecurity and the ongoing atrocities in Afghanistan, Daily Outlook Afghanistan reported. This comes as Pakistan continues to deny supporting and providing safe havens to the Taliban fighters. The Afghan government has been accusing its neighbor of funding and providing support to the Taliban. US Defence Secretary earlier this week held a telephonic conversation with Pakistan Army Chief and discussed the ongoing situation in Afghanistan where Taliban and Afghan forces are engaged in violent clashes. Austin and Bajwa discussed mutual goals of security and stability in the region. “Secretary Austin and General Bajwa discussed the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, regional security and stability, and the bilateral defence relationship more broadly,” the statement read. With the US drawdown from Afghanistan on the verge of completion, Pakistan’s terrorist groups are extending Taliban full support in recruiting terrorists for the ongoing fighting in the war-torn country to overthrow the current President and the Government of Afghanistan. The United States is concerned that the Taliban could capture Kabul in 1-3 months, far sooner than the previous intelligence assessment suggested. A report published by The Washington Post stated that the situation in the country is now worse than it was in June when the US intelligence predicted that Kabul could collapse in 6-12 months after the American troop pullout from Afghanistan.
Writing for the InsideOver, Federico Giuliani said, “The withdrawal of American troops has finally revealed the true essence of the so-called Afghan conflict – this is the Pakistani-Afghan hybrid war that Islamabad is waging against the government and people of Afghanistan.” Giuliani states that the Pakistan government needs the Taliban to solve a strategic task and replace the Afghan government with politicians controlled by Islamabad.
