Afghan govt should own its failures: Hammad Azhar

Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar on Tuesday said Pakistan rejects allegations from 'certain quarters' in Afghanistan and Kabul should 'own its failures'.

As the Afghan situation deteriorates, there are elements within and outside Afghanistan, who have increased their rhetoric against Pakistan, blaming Islamabad for the chaos, particularly the allegations of using the Taliban as a proxy to impose a government of its choice in Kabul.

"Repeatedly, ANSF has surrendered voluntarily during battle, despite massive financial support," the minister added.

Azhar added that Pakistan desires peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said Pakistan stands for peace in Afghanistan and has nothing to gain from conflict.

"In fact, it is Kabul Govt that needs to answer for the daily instances of terrorism in Pakistan sponsored and coordinated from Afghanistan," the minister said on Twitter.

The information minister further added that everyone knew for whom people such as Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib worked for.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Shahbaz Gill urged the Afghan government to not indulge in propaganda. He said the Afghan forces are surrendering, yet Kabul's officials are running a campaign against Pakistan. 

"The Taliban control over 60% of Afghanistan but somehow Afghan officials run a campaign maligning Pakistan for their own failures instead of fighting on the ground," the SAPM said.

The Taliban have swiftly gained territory across Afghanistan since May, including six provincial capitals in the last three days, as international forces near a complete withdrawal from the country after 20 years of fighting.

Read More: Islamabad mulls regional moot on Kabul

A day earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi dispelled the impression that Pakistan was the reason behind the current mess in Afghanistan, stating that Islamabad could not be held responsible for the “capitulation and meltdown” of the Afghan national defence forces in the face of the Taliban.

Qureshi told reporters in categorical terms that Pakistan could not be made a scapegoat and emphasised that instead of blaming Pakistan, the international community should ponder over “where did the amount of money spent in Afghanistan go?”

“It is unfortunate to scapegoat Pakistan for the failures of others. Issues of governance and meltdown of the Afghan national defence forces need to be looked into,” he said, referring to the rapid Taliban gains in many areas, without facing any resistance from the Afghan forces.

It was also reported that Pakistan was likely to host a regional conference on Afghanistan to be attended by foreign ministers of the immediate neighbours of the war-torn country as well as other stakeholders as part of a diplomatic push to prevent a civil war there.

“We are planning to host foreign ministers of the key regional countries on the Afghan situation,” a senior Pakistani official told The Express Tribune requesting anonymity.