ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday categorically rejected the Afghan army chief’s reported comments to the BBC and described them another attempt to malign Pakistan.
Afghan army chief of staff General Sher Muhammad Karimi said in an interview broadcast by the BBC that Pakistan could end the Afghan war “in weeks” if it were serious about peace.
“The allegations that Pakistan ‘controls’ the Taliban and has ‘unleashed’ them on Afghanistan have no basis. We reject them categorically,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Pakistan has 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,” it said.
Karimi accused Pakistan of closing down madrassa schools that serve as incubators of extremism and as a result had “unleashed” the Taliban on Afghanistan today.
The Afghan army chief said “the Taliban are under their control” and Pakistan could do far more to promote a nascent peace process.
The Pakistani foreign office said it would not be deterred in its efforts to support international efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and accused elements in the Afghan government of insincerity.
“We would, however, hope that the Afghan officials would refrain from leveling baseless allegations and work towards creating a conducive environment that helps advance the shared objectives of peace, stability and prosperity,” it said.
