Before Afghan army vanquished Pakistan offered to train, equip brigade

Islamabad (HRNW) Pakistan offered the Afghan National Army (ANA) to train and equip one of its brigades gratis, only three months before Afghanistan’s army was vanquished by the Taliban advancing on Afghanistan’s cities, Pakistan Army’s spokesman Major General Babar Iftikhar has said.

At a wide-ranging press briefing that covered various Afghanistan related issues, Gen Iftikhar revealed how Afghan military officials chose India over Pakistan for the training of its young officers.

“We … offered the Afghan Army to train and equip a complete brigade-sized force on gratis basis with our equipment and everything. And this was offered as recent as the last visit of the Chief of Army Staff to Afghanistan,” Gen Iftikhar said. Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Afghanistan on May 10, 2021, three months before Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15.

Gen Iftikhar said Pakistan wanted stability in Afghanistan and training Afghan forces was part of Pakistan’s sincere peace efforts.

“We offered them we’ll equip the complete brigade for you and train them. All this while the main logistics lifeline of the US and Nato forces stayed open. Why were we doing this? Because we know that peace in Afghanistan will ensure peace in Pakistan and unrest there will also directly impact Pakistan. It was a very sincere effort all along.”

The army spokesman said Pakistan pursued border cooperation and intelligence sharing with Afghanistan when the country was under the governments of Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani. However, its proposal and offers to help were not reciprocated.

He said Pakistan had entered one peace agreement and three border agreements with Afghanistan including tripartite border SOP of 2014, Bilateral Border SOP also in 2014, Bilateral Military Coordination SOP in 2015 and Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Stability in 2018.