US 'really messed it up' in Afghanistan, says Pak PM Imran Khan

July 28, 2021 16:20

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the US "really messed it up" in Afghanistan as he questioned the American motive for the 2001 invasion of the country in the first place and then their subsequent attempts of seeking a political solution with the Taliban from a position of weakness. Khan also said that the only good solution to Afghanistan's situation is through a political settlement that is "inclusive an" involves all factions, including the Taliban.

"I think the US has really messed it up in Afghanistan," Khan said during an interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS NewsHour, an American news programme, aired on Tuesday night, Dawn newspaper reported.

Under a deal with the Taliban, the US and its NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a commitment by the militants that they would prevent extremist groups from operating in areas they control. US President Joe Biden has announced that American troops will be out of the country by August 31.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan by brute force from 1996 to 2001 when the US invasion toppled their government. The US invaded Afghanistan in October, 2001 after the Taliban refused to hand over al-Qaeda's leader Osama bin Laden, who was behind the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in America. Khan criticised the US for trying to "look for a military solution in Afghanistan, when there never was one".

"And people like me who kept saying that there's no military solution, who know the history of Afghanistan, we were called people like me were called anti-American. I was called Taliban Khan," Khan said. -- PTI

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