Another 9/11 could 'originate from Afghanistan'

Pakistan worries that Kabul is slipping off the radar after Ukraine war, Palestinian genocide

ISLAMABAD:

A top Pakistani diplomat handling Afghan diplomacy has sounded the alarm, cautioning that another 9/11-style attack could originate from Afghanistan, a war-torn country he says the world has all but forgotten.

"Afghanistan has almost been forgotten. There is no doubt about it and this was in fact highlighted during the Doha 3 session in June. Humanitarian assistance is not up to the mark. Even last year only one-third of the commitments were fulfilled," remarked Pakistan's special representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Durrani during a talk at the Ambassadors' Lounge.

He said after the Ukraine war and Palestinian genocide, the priorities of the international players changed. "In fact, Afghanistan is no more in the news. Forget about front or back pages, even in the inner pages Afghanistan is absent."

"I think it can push back Afghanistan to pre-9/11 conditions and which in fact then give birth to 9/11," Durrani warned.

He said 97 per cent of the current Afghan population lives below the poverty line.

"Of which 52 per cent of the population is actually dependent on international humanitarian assistance," he added.

"And if the economic situation continues to deteriorate, I think our concern should be that people in Afghanistan would start leaving the country and their most favourite destination is Pakistan. This is something we should be sensitive about and the international community should know their responsibilities," he added.

The special envoy on Afghanistan also warned that the presence of different terrorist groups, including Daesh Khorasan, is a major challenge for the region and beyond.

"My worry is that ISKP is gaining ground inside Afghanistan and that should be a source of concern for everyone in the region and beyond because of their actions in Iran, their actions in Moscow and also many operations inside Pakistan. If that can happen here it can happen elsewhere."

"So it should be a concern for everyone."

The Afghan Taliban recently celebrated their three years in power.

When asked to give his assessment on the Taliban rule and their possible international acceptance, Durrani was of the view that they were moving in that direction.

"We should not forget that they are faced with tremendous challenges. Number 1, they are not recognised by any country, secondly, when they came to power, their coffers were empty, thirdly, they were not expecting of a meltdown of Ashraf Ghani government."

"On the balance, if you look at it during the past 3 years, I think the security situation in Afghanistan has improved, there is less corruption, which is internationally acknowledged," he further said.

Since coming to power, the Afghan Taliban have enforced strict rules, claiming to be in conformity with Islam. The Taliban regime, despite earlier promises, banned girls' education, something that greatly impacted their chances of getting international legitimacy.

Durrani said the Taliban's actions might suit their own conditions but those couldn't be called Islamic.

"The Afghan Taliban have also implemented certain rules and regulations which in fact may suit the Afghan conditions but certainly do not fit into the Islamic tenets which they claim they have implemented," he said.

The relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan has only gone from bad to worse under the Taliban regime as they refused to neutralise the TTP threat.

"For Pakistan peace in Afghanistan is welcome, we have been telling this to the Taliban. But at the same time, our complaint is that their peace has become a problem for us because of the TTP. TTP attacks have increased by 70 per cent in Pakistan," Durrani said.

When asked about Pakistan's options to deal with TTP, Durrani was adamant that diplomacy was working. He was confident that Pakistan would resolve the TTP issue despite the Taliban's reluctance to take action against terrorist sanctuaries.