By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter
The Afghan Taliban leaders in Doha have denied any meeting with representatives of Pakistan’s intelligence agency as claimed by senior Afghan government officials.
In recent days, there have been a series of accusations made by various Afghan government officials, who try to portray the Afghan Taliban as nothing but mere puppets in the hands of Pakistan armed forces and its intelligence agencies.
The Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Ershad Ahmadi recently made a startling claim that officials of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, met the Afghan Taliban leaders at their Doha office.
Later, the Afghan Army Chief General Sher Mohamed made another accusation in an interview to the BBC, alleging that Pakistan effectively controlled the Afghan Taliban. Moreover, he claimed that fighting in Afghanistan could be stopped in weeks if Pakistan told the Afghan Taliban to end the insurgency.
Over the course of the last few days, Gulf Times got a few one-line statements from the Taliban office representatives in Doha.
When they were asked to comment on the Afghan foreign ministry official’s claims about their purported meeting with ISI officers, the Taliban replied via SMS that “these are just rumour(s).”
Even the Pakistani embassy and security officials denied any such meeting between the two sides in Qatar. One of the security officials described the statements made by Afghan government officials as ‘desperate lies to unnecessary malign Pakistan.’
The spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry also made comments yesterday with regard to allegations made by Afghan government officials.
“We have seen a series of allegations levelled by Afghan leaders and officials. Pakistan has responded to some allegations but we generally exercise restraint to avoid tensions in our relations with Afghanistan.
“Pakistan wants to see peace and stability in Afghanistan. We are sincere in our approach and our efforts, and we hope that our sincerity will be reciprocated. Our leadership, all state institutions and the people of Pakistan want to see a united, prosperous and stable Afghanistan,” the Pakistani spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Taliban officials in Doha have gone quiet and have not given any official interviews to any media representatives in the last few days.
It took years to bring the militant group to the negotiating table and despite the fanfare with which their office opened in Doha on June 18, it remains uncertain whether all the investment made into the peace process by various stakeholders would actually bear fruit.
It is understood that the Taliban are adopting a wait-and-see approach given that their talks with the US have stalled reportedly because of the dispute over the Taliban treating their office as an embassy and not just as a place for just holding negotiations.
Even though there have been unconfirmed reports that their office in Qatar is ‘temporarily shut ,’ the Taliban have yet not released any official statement regarding the status of their office.
They also refuse to give a time-frame about when they will end their silence.
When asked for the reasons for their continued silence, especially in the context of their stalled negotiations with the US for which purpose the Doha office was actually launched, the Afghan Taliban representatives in Doha again responded via SMS (in Urdu): “When there is no one ready to speak or listen to the truth, then in such an environment, it is better to be quiet.”
File photo of Taliban officials walking towards their office in Doha.
