Pakistan urges US to ‘de-link’ Taliban from Afghan citizens

Islamabad (dpa), 19 Dec, 2021 - Pakistan on Sunday urged the United States to “de-link” the Taliban regime from Afghan citizens to help prevent a humanitarian crisis and chaos in Afghanistan.   

“They [the US] must de-link the Taliban government from 40 million Afghan citizens, even if they [have] been in conflict with Taliban for 20 years,” Prime Minister Imran Khan told the 17th extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad.  

He said the Taliban had committed to complying with the pre-conditions for the lifting of economic sanctions.   

Khan said a lack of “immediate action” would lead Afghanistan to chaos. “Chaos suits no one and it certainly does not suit the United States,” he said.  

Khan said the Islamic State was capable of international terrorism and could exploit the situation if there was chaos and the Afghan government was not able to fight terrorism. 

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan could lead to further instability, impacting regional and international peace.