Achakzai links Pakhtun massacre to proxy wars

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakhtuns on both sides of the Durand Line are being massacred as a result of proxy wars by international powers, says a veteran nationalist leader.

The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) chief explained the killing of Pakhtuns was in no way driven by social or cultural factors.

Speaking at a grand jirga organised by JUI-F in Peshawar on Friday, Mahmood Khan Achakzai recalled how Afghanistan was destroyed and Pakhtuns tormented in the wake of the Soviet intervention.

He alleged: “All secular and religious powers destroyed Afghanistan and Pakhtuns on this side of the Durand Line. The same happened after 9/11 and continues even today.”

Achakzai ticked off both the US and Russia for the destruction of Afghan Pakhtuns, whose land was strategically important and had enormous natural wealth.

He asked the caretaker Afghan government to convene a meeting of the figures who took part in Doha negotiations for consultations on how to end its isolation.

The United Nations should convene a special meeting of representatives from Afghanistan and neighbours on stabilising the war-hit country, Achakzai suggested.

All participants be allowed to spell out their positions and reach a consensus on respect for each other’s sovereignty and principles of non-interference and peaceful co- existence, he concluded.

mud