Former US special representative for Afghanistan Zamlay Khalilzad says that if reports about former Afghan politicians meeting with Pakistani intelligence officials are true, it is a “bad sign,” and they should not become pawns in ISI’s games.
Khalilzad asked the Afghan politicians not to become pawns in the game of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) — Pakistan’s premier spy service.
Some sources claim former politicians, including Abdul Rashid Dostum, Salahuddin Rabbani, Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, Mohammad Khan and Karim Khalili, met Pakistan intelligence officials in Turkey.
However, the politicians and Pakistani sleuths have not yet confirmed the reports.
In a post on X, Khalilzad wrote: “There are reports of meetings between ISI officials and former Afghan leaders who now live in Turkiya. If true, this is a bad sign and indicates that Islamabad would like to deploy them for propaganda and as recruiting agents for impoverished young Afghans to spread violence and death in Afghanistan, while they themselves remain comfortably in exile.”
Khalilzad said: “These former Afghan leaders should know better than to become pawns in ISI’s games. The Pakistan security establishment very likely intends to use these leaders and recruits as bargaining chips with the Taliban to get concessions and then abandon them, as some have experienced first hand in the past.”
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