PAKISTAN NO LONGER A MILITANT SAFE HAVEN — IMRAN
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted yesterday that his country is no longer a militant safe haven, and said his administration fully supports the Afghan peace process.
Imran’s comments come as the US and the Taliban appear on the brink of a deal that would see US forces begin to pull out of Afghanistan.
In return, the Taliban would enter talks with the Afghan government, stick to various security guarantees and work toward an eventual, comprehensive ceasefire.
Pakistan, which has long been accused of supporting the Taliban and other extremist groups along its border with Afghanistan, is seen as key to helping secure and implement any deal.
“I can tell you that there are no safe havens here,” Imran said at a conference in the capital Islamabad. “Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan.”
Imran’s comments came after Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan’s second vice president, accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.
The US has “commitments from the Taliban on security issues,” he said.