End support to Taliban for peace

Afghanistan on Monday asked Pakistan to end its "unequivocally abundant support" to Taliban to check terrorist activities in the region that are hurting both countries. A top advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai said while bold and open discussions have been held between Kabul and Islamabad on the issue of tackling terrorism, Pakistan now needs to "walk the talk". "Both countries are suffering from losses due to increasing terrorist activities," Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, an advisor on the Home Security to the President, said on the sidelines of a workshop to discuss the Afghan transition. End support to Taliban for peace: Afghans to Pak He said while notable progress has been made in strengthening the security sector in Afghanistan, it was only in 2011 when the government's comprehensive, population- centric counter-insurgency operations started bearing results and the trend started reversing. "This is, however, a delicate progress and can reverse, if not managed well. With the unequivocally abundant support funnelled to them from outside the Afghan borders, insurgents are increasingly shifting tactics focusing on high profile targets thus rejecting any notion that they are losing the war," he told over 100 delegates, including high ranking diplomats and representatives from the Pakistan and Indian High Commissions. Other Afghan delegates too insisted that Pakistan was a source of insurgency in their country, and any fencing of the 2,400 km of border would not help contain terrorists. Stanekzai, who is also the chief executive officer of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme, said there was trust-deficit between the two countries which remained a major hurdle in taking clearer action on the ground. "Stabilising Afghanistan following NATO's departure 2014 will not be possible unless the international community establishes a realistic strategy for the government to respect the rule of the law," stressed Fawzia Koofi, the Afghanistan member of parliament and one of the 10-member Afghan delegates at the workshop, the first of its kind to be hosted in Southeast Asia and Singapore. "The Taliban must stop getting military supplies from other side of the border, namely, Pakistan," said Koofi, expressing concern over the possibility of Taliban's return that, she said, would hit women the most.