Pakistan enabling Taliban, says Ghani

NEW DELHI // Afghan president Ashraf Ghani yesterday accused Pakistan of waging an “undeclared war” and said Taliban insurgents battling his government would not last a month without sanctuary in the neighbouring state.

He urged Pakistan to spend US$500 million (Dh1.83 billion) pledged in aid for Afghanistan to tackle extremism instead. “Despite our intense engagement with Pakistan on bilateral and multilateral basis, the undeclared war has not abated but intensified during 2016,” Mr Ghani said.

“One of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said if they didn’t have a sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn’t last a month.” The Taliban were toppled from power by a US-led invasion in 2001 and have battled the Kabul government and its foreign allies since.

Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and providing a safe haven in hopes of maintaining influence in Afghanistan. Mr Ghani was speaking at the sixth ministerial conference of the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process, a dialogue on ways to encourage security, political and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbours.

Delegations from more than a dozen countries attended the conference in the Indian city of Amritsar yesterday and discussed challenges to the long-term growth and stability of the war-torn country.