'Taliban won’t talk till Ashraf Ghani is president': Imran Khan as insurgents move closer to Capital
By Team Newsable | First Published Aug 12, 2021, 1:02 PM ISTAddressing the media, the Pakistan prime minister said a political settlement was looking difficult under current conditions. He informed that he tried to persuade the Taliban around a few months back when they came to Islamabad.
Amid the ongoing fight between the Taliban and Afghan forces, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan finally broke his silence and said that the terror group would not talk to the Afghanistan government until Asharaf Ghani remained president.
Addressing the media, the Pakistan prime minister said a political settlement was looking difficult under current conditions. He informed that he tried to persuade the Taliban around a few months back when they came to Islamabad. He asserted that the Taliban would not talk to the Afghan government as long as Ashraf Ghani is there. The statement comes after people from Afghanistan began a social media campaign against Pakistan and blamed them for the country's deteriorating situation.
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In a recent development, the Taliban have taken the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni, which is just 150 kilometres from Kabul.
Ghazni is the tenth provincial capital to fall to the insurgents in a week. It lies along the major Kabul-Kandahar highway.
According to media reports, Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, who is the head of the provincial capital, informed that the Taliban took control of the city's key areas, including Governor's office, the police headquarters, and the prison. He further said that fighting continued in parts of the city, but the provincial capital was mainly in the insurgents' hands.
Confirming the same, the Taliban posted a statement on social media about the capture.
The latest loss of the city will likely pile more pressure on the country's forces. In less than a week, the Taliban seized ten provincial capitals and encircled Mazar-i-Sharif, the biggest town in the north.
Recently, United States President Joe Biden said he does not regret withdrawing and urged Afghan leaders to fight for their homeland. He said that they had spent more than $1 trillion over 20 years, lost thousands of US troops, and continued to provide significant air support, food, equipment, and salaries to Afghan forces.
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