PAKISTAN has always demonstrated goodwill and hospitality towards its Afghan brothers and sisters.
In yet another manifestation of it, Pakistan Army, on Monday, provided refuge and safe passage to forty-six Afghan National Army soldiers and Border Police including five officers who were unable to control their military positions following advances by the Taliban.
These Afghan soldiers were trained by the NATO countries and possess latest equipment but on a daily basis they are losing their ground to the Taliban who probably do not have the sophisticated weapons and are also less in number when compared with the Afghan troops.
There are frequent reports that the Afghan troops are fleeing to neighbouring Tajikistan, Iran and Pakistan.
One, especially the US, would not have anticipated such a low morale and incapacity of the Afghan troops.
The way Taliban are advancing, it appears that they are not getting no resistance whatsoever from the security forces.
The Afghan leadership misses no opportunity to point finger towards Pakistan for its own failures. Had they focused more on building a well-organized Army and Police, they would not have faced with such sort of embarrassing situation today.
It will be better for the Afghan leaders to demonstrate some maturity and stop blaming Pakistan for the failures of its own security forces.
It is not Pakistan but its own troops which are letting them down. It won’t be wrong to say that the Afghan troops have completely collapsed under the Taliban onslaught.
Anyway, as always advocated by Pakistan, there is no military solution to the conflict and violence will only further aggravate the problems of the Afghan people.
Pakistan has always and continues to make strenuous efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
It is for the Afghan parties to sit for a meaningful dialogue, demonstrate flexibility and reach a settlement for a better future of their country.
Political settlement will be a blow to the spoilers and help the war-torn country move towards development.
