Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, has asked Pakistan for assistance in ending the country’s raging conflict, saying he hopes Islamabad can encourage the Taliban to resume negotiations.
The situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated, with the Taliban starting a blistering assault and seizing key areas of the nation, bolstering their position as US and other foreign soldiers prepare to depart.
In an exclusive interview with a local private television programme, Atmar stated that Kabul had high hopes for Pakistan.
“We are optimistic that Pakistan would assist Afghanistan in disrupting the Taliban’s supply chain and ‘brutal campaign,'” the Afghan minister stated.
In answer to a question regarding whether the Afghan government believes the US has deceived it, Atmar stated that the US entered into an arrangement with the Taliban with good intentions.
“The Taliban failed to live up to their end of the bargain and misled the whole world,” he added. “The Taliban are doing a grave error. We’ve extended a hand of goodwill to them from all of us “Added he.
He said that the Afghan government was asking the Taliban to uphold the Doha peace agreement, and that Kabul had met its commitments under the agreement in terms of prisoner exchanges and securing the departure of foreign forces.
