Pakistan Army warns US Generals
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ISLAMABAD: As the attacks from Afghanistan to Pakistan have increased manifold since last few days and weeks the patience within the Pakistan Army senior Generals seems to be reaching at its end.
Pakistan’s military has warned Donald Trump’s new generals that they face a ‘total mess’ in Afghanistan unless the US and UK can halt the advance of IS and the Taliban.
In an interview with the Telegraph, a senior Pakistani army source said the collapse in security since the draw-down of Western troops from Afghanistan meant the West now faced ‘losing control’.
If IS and the Taliban continued to gain strength, he added, it could tempt Russia to stage a Syrian-style intervention, this time on the pretext of protecting its ‘backyard’ in Central Asia.
The source within the Pakistani army said that in recent weeks, high-level discussions had taken place with both Resolute Support Mission commander Gen John Nicholson and James Mattis, the retired US general appointed by Mr Trump as Secretary of Defence.
Gen Nicholson himself admitted last month that Afghan forces were now in a stalemate against a resurgent Taliban. The Pakistani source said even that was an optimistic assessment.
“A stalemate is still a win for the Taliban,” he said. “We have told Gen Mattis that Afghanistan is slipping out of control, and that if things are not put right, America will have a huge crisis on its hands. “Da’ish is also developing there, and if they leave Syria and Iraq, the next place for them to gather in is Afghanistan.”
Pakistan has criticised the Kabul government for not doing enough to seal its side of the Afghan border, from where Islamabad says militants are now launching attacks on both Pakistani and Afghan soil.
However, Islamabad admits that Kabul is limited by the capabilities of the Afghan National Army.