Pakistan’s ISI sponsors Afghan Taliban: NDS

Afghanistan National Directorate Security (NDS) stresses that Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) supports Afghan Taliban and seeks to send Mujahidin network, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terrorist groups to Afghanistan.

NDS acting head declares that the government’s focus is on suppressing these groups.

“Taliban wants to continue war in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s ISI sponsors it in this term,” said Masoud Andarabi, NDS acting head.

Pakistani intelligence gives funding, training and sanctuary to the Afghan Taliban on a scale much larger than previously thought.

Links between the Taliban and Pakistan’s intelligence service have long been suspected, but Afghan officials say there is real evidence of extensive co-operation between the two.

The lower house of Parliament- Wolesi Jirga has summoned acting minister of interior, army chief of staff, and NDS acting head to Parliament regarding the security situation of the country.

“The focuses should be more on coordination of security forces for a better security in the country,” said Saleh Muhammad Saleh, representative of Herat.

Previously, NDS adviser has said that Pakistan has long been accused of using the Taliban to further its foreign policy interests in the country.

Pakistan has always denied such claims and points to arrests and military offensives against the militants on its side of the border. Nevertheless, parts of the tribal north-west of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan remain strongholds for the militants.

For four decades, Pakistan’s spy-generals have played Afghanistan like a powerful chip in a consequential game of poker. They know the important local militants, have open channels to their favorite groups, and regularly play various groups against the Western coalition.