Abdul Hadi Mayar Islamabad
The United States has reiterated its support to Pakistan’s efforts against terrorism and said that both Islamabad and Washington ‘have a shared interest in holding the (Afghan) Taliban to their counterterrorism commitments.’
In an inclusive interaction with Pakistan Observer, a spokesperson of the US embassy in Islamabad said, “our most enduring interest in Afghanistan is to ensure that it never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists, especially those who wish harm to the United States or our partners or allies.”
The spokesperson was asked for his take on remarks of Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, who lamented last week that the world had neglected Afghanistan and this situation ‘could push Afghanistan back into the conditions that gave birth to 9/11 terrorist attacks on US soil.’
In a strong rebuttal the Afghan Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Zia Ahmad Takal had said that ‘the issues and threats referred to by Durani were more likely to come from Pakistan, rather than Afghanistan.’
“Our most enduring interest in Afghanistan is to ensure that it never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists, especially those who wish harm to the United States or our partners or allies,” the US embassy spokesperson said, adding that ‘we are in regular communication with Pakistani leadership and discuss Afghanistan in detail.’
He added, “we regularly engage Pakistani leaders to strengthen regional security. We also partner with a range of Pakistani civilian institutions to identify opportunities to build capacity in detecting, preventing, and responding to threats posed by militant terrorist groups.”
Uttering that the United States remained ‘vigilant against the threats posed by Islamic State-Khurasan (ISIS-K),’ the spokesperson did acknowledge Afghan Taliban’s active involvement in combating the terrorist outfit.
“It is clearly in the (Afghan) Taliban’s interest to continue their efforts to counter this violent terrorist group, and they have demonstrated a willingness to contain this threat.”
