Amid escalating tensions, Pakistan shelves plan to host Afg
03 Aug 2021, 14:55 GMT+10
Islamabad [Pakistan], August 3 (ANI): With tensions escalating between governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan over the latter s support to the Taliban, Islamabad has shelved its plan to host a peace conference involving Afghanistan s political leadership.
The Pakistan government has quietly shelved its plan to host Afghan Peace Conference, Dawn reported citing a senior Pakistan official.
The conference was originally planned to be held from July 17 to 19 to give a fresh impetus to the efforts for peace in Afghanistan.
Twenty-one prominent Afghan leaders, including Abdullah Abdullah, Karim Khalili, Mohammad Younus Qanooni, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Salahuddin Rabbani, Ismail Khan, Ata Mohammad Noor, Sayed Hamed Gailani, Sayed Eshaq Gailani, Batur Dostum and Mirwais Yasini, had been invited to the conference in Islamabad. Several of them had confirmed their participation.
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The Afghanistan conundrum
July 19, 2021
Volumes have been written on the Afghanistan conundrum but for more than four decades, the country is ravaged by war, conflict and strife. In 1979, the erstwhile Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan but a fierce guerrilla war forced the Red Army to retreat by 1989. A period of peace should have followed but internecine warfare and battles for supremacy between various tribes and warlords wasted the country till the Taliban brought a modicum of stability, which was shattered by 9/11. An enraged US, seeking to destroy Al Qaeda, responsible for the reprehensible attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, unleashed its fury on Afghanistan in October 2001. Twenty years of warfare failed to bring order to Afghanistan. Now, the US and NATO troops have been drawn down, apart from approximately 650 US soldiers, who are expected to remain in Afghanistan with the limited mission of protecting the US Embassy and Kabul’s international airport.
Kabul recalls envoy over ‘security threats’
Islamabad describes the move as unfortunate and regrettable
ISLAMABAD:
In a blow to an already fragile relationship between the two neighbours, Afghanistan on Sunday decided to withdraw its ambassador and senior diplomats from Pakistan, a move that Islamabad termed as unfortunate and regrettable .
The decision by Kabul to recall its ambassador in Islamabad and other diplomats came in reaction to the reported abduction of the daughter of the envoy on Friday.
Selsela Alikhil, the daughter of Najibullah Alikhil, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, was allegedly kidnapped and held for several hours by unknown assailants who left her with injuries and rope marks.