Kabul [Afghanistan], August 12 : 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. “Pakistani generals see the future of Afghanistan only as their colony or a vassal state and are busy recruiting thousands of militants from Pakistani cities and madrassas for the same.” Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that the terror group would not talk to the Afghanistan government until Asharaf Ghani remains the country’s president. Talking to foreign journalists in Islamabad, Pak PM said a political settlement was looking difficult under current conditions. According to Giuliani, Pakistan’s terror groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) have assured Taliban deputy leader Mullah Yaqoob, their full support in recruiting enough fighters for his group. “They have already set up three new major camps in Tera Agency area in Pakistan to mobilize their fighters for fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistani military itself is providing training to around 5000 Taliban fighters in LeT’s training camps in Hyderabad, Punjab.” Despite Pakistan’s refusal to accept the presence of “jihadis” on its soil, the country has been receiving dead bodies of its citizens from across the border on the Chaman-Spin Boldak and other border crossings. Multiple reports have confirmed that dozens of Pakistanis have been killed in Afghanistan in recent months while fighting alongside the Taliban against the Afghan forces. Giuliani, lastly, argues that the Pakistan government must be held accountable for the “mayhem it is orchestrating” in Afghanistan. “The FATF needs to watch closely as to how these terror groups, whose existence has been consistently denied by Pakistan, have come out in the open and in full force to support the Taliban in destroying the once magnificent country, Afghanistan,” he added.
