Won’t aid Taliban: Pakistan army spokesman

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): As it continues to back the Afghan peace process, Pakistan will not support the Taliban, the military spokesman says.

“It’s impossible for the Taliban to recapture Kabul and that Pakistan would support them. It isn’t going to happen,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general said.

Major General Babar Iftikhar told journalists in Rawalpindi on Wednesday that his country had done what it could to influence the Taliban into starting peace talks with Kabul.

In response to a query, the military official claimed: “Even Afghan leaders are acknowledging that Pakistan has done its utmost for peace in Afghanistan.”

The Afghan people and government themselves should shape the future of their country and how to push the dialogue process.

“We only aim for a long-lasting peace in Afghanistan,” explained the ISPR spokesman, who said there should be no void in the neighbouring country.

Islamabad’s policy to extend a hand of peace to the neighbours was crystal clear, he said, referring to a recent statement of Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.

The army chief’s support for efforts to ensure peace in the region did not mean they were unaware of the danger on Pakistan’s eastern border.

The whereabouts of former TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan were not known, and they were making efforts for his re-arrest, the major-general said.

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