Leaked NATO Report: Pakistan Helping Afghan Taliban

Posted February 1st, 2012 at 6:25 am (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

A leaked report allegedly authored by officials in the international coalition in Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of secretly assisting the Taliban.

According to the report seen by The Times newspaper and British Broadcasting Corporation, Pakistan's military spy agency, the ISI, is supporting the Afghan Taliban, and the insurgents believe victory is inevitable once NATO troops leave in 2014.

The classified document reportedly was compiled from information learned in the interrogations of 4,000 captured Taliban and al-Qaida operatives.

Pakistani foreign ministry officials dismissed the report's findings as “frivolous,” saying Islamabad is “committed to non-interference in Afghanistan and expect all other states to strictly adhere to this principle.”

A spokesman for the NATO-led forces confirmed the existence of the report, but added that it was not an analysis of the progress of the war, now in its 11th year.

News of the report comes as Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is in Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Relations between the governments have been tense, as both sides accuse the other of violence in their respective countries.

However, both countries are working open peace talks in Saudi Arabia with the Taliban, separate from reported peace efforts in Qatar between the United States and Taliban.

The Taliban though has repeatedly refused to deal with Mr. Karzai's government, calling it a “puppet regime.” The group announced Wednesday that it had no plans to hold peace talks with the Afghan government in Saudi Arabia.