RASC News Agency: Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. envoy and a key lobbyist for the Taliban’s ethno-political agenda, has voiced serious concerns over reports suggesting that Pakistani officials have met with former Afghanistani leaders. He warned that if these reports prove accurate, they could indicate Islamabad’s deliberate efforts to escalate violence in Afghanistan. In his latest remarks, Khalilzad expressed apprehension regarding the possibility that senior officials from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have engaged with exiled Afghanistani leaders currently residing in Turkey. Reports had previously surfaced alleging that ISI officials had held secret discussions with several former Afghanistani jihadist leaders in Turkey.
However, on Saturday, February 1, these former leaders some of whom have recently established the Supreme Council of Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan issued a statement categorically denying such claims. Khalilzad’s remarks come amid growing speculation regarding ISI’s clandestine engagements with Afghanistani opposition figures in Turkey. As one of the Taliban’s most ardent international backers, Khalilzad has consistently opposed any diplomatic outreach to the group’s political adversaries.
Leveraging his deep influence within Washington’s foreign policy establishment, he has spent the past two and a half years securing substantial financial and political support for the Taliban regime. Fully aware of Pakistan’s pivotal role in both installing the Taliban and shaping previous Afghanistan governments, Khalilzad fears that Islamabad’s own political maneuvering could ultimately facilitate the Taliban’s downfall jeopardizing a project deeply entrenched in Pakistan’s intelligence and ethnic ambitions in Afghanistan.
