Mohammad Hashem Esmatollahi, the then advisor to former Afghan President Hamed Karzai said Pakistan’s drones and fighter jets were openly involved in helping the Taliban take control of Panjshir and violated the territorial integrity of Afghanistan in spite of denial from the Pakistani side.

“The United States, in the past 20 years, had the opportunity to support the formation of an inclusive government; however, we never reached the conclusion in the Office of President that the US wants to help the Afghan government establish security and stability in line with good governance; this is while it could have happened.”

This former professor of the Kabul University emphasized that the basis of the US strategy in Afghanistan and Central Asia is focused on turning the countries and the region into a quagmire and make them insecure.

Referring to the recent movements of Daesh in this region, he said “we have been witness on numerous occasions to the role played by American and Pakistani intelligence agencies in Afghanistan. The United States never held talks with the Taliban for the creation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and has not supported it.”

Esmatollahi pointed to the Taliban actions in destroying the tomb of Ahmad Shah Masood despite earlier promising to protect his grave, adding that “I do not believe that the Taliban would be able to rule in Afghanistan. Perhaps, with pressure and mental war, they could portray themselves appropriately; however, in fact, they will not take any effective measures to create an inclusive government and listen to the voice of the society.

Necessity of ending the siege on Panjshir and beginning national talks

Advisor to former Afghan president stressed the necessity of terminating the siege of Panjshir and beginning negotiations among various groups, saying “Kabul in the past several days has been witness to many protests. They are seeking to suppress their opponents in Panjshir; however, protests will definitely continue in various forms because the majority of the people do not agree with a phenomenon called the Taliban. Afghanistan today is not comparable with Afghanistan 20 years ago as highly educated youth and talents have returned and are influential in the world.”

Referring to violence against protestors in Kabul and some other cities of Afghanistan by the Taliban, he said the Taliban are making efforts to suppress protests in Afghanistan and one of their main problems is that they know that the will of people are not aligned with their will and people are opposed to them and want to have another will for their life and future of their country. The Taliban resistance against the admission of these demands would lead to stronger public resistance and would cause more insecurity and civil war in Afghanistan.

Asked about remarks by Russia’s foreign minister that he would attend the inauguration of Taliban government if it includes representatives from all Afghan tribes, he said “the Taliban have no potential for rule. They have been deceived by US plans. If the Taliban were seeking to form an inclusive government, they could make some steps when Ashraf Ghani and Hamed Karzai were in power. It is clear that when the Taliban come into power in this way, they will not be prepared to share power with currents opposed to them.”

According to Esmatollahi, perhaps the Taliban would use people from other Afghan tribes such as the Tajiks, Hazarahs and Pashtuns as their own puppets; however, they will never form an inclusive government to represent the true will and determination of the people of Afghanistan.

He emphasized that the present circumstances are very complex and difficult, adding that the Taliban have focused all their attention on gaining international support and legitimacy and want other countries to recognize them. Otherwise, all are aware that the Taliban would not fulfill their promises and would not abide by and do not believe at all on any of the principles sought by the people.

Taliban’s effort to suppress public protest

He added that the issue of protests in Panjshir and its immediate suppression were so much important for Taliban that they attacked at night with the help of foreign drones and fighter jets and suppressed their opponents.

“They were worried about the continuation of resistance and further protests and nationwide uprising across whole Afghanistan and definitely such protest could be formed. They have understood such sensitivity and send more than 11,000 forces from Kabul and made all their efforts to break the Panjshir resistance even though we are still hopeful of resistance.”

Esmatollahi said that the Taliban do not have the possibility of forming a true inclusive government and responding to the demands of the people of Afghanistan.

“There is no consensus among them in this respect. There is even differences between the Taliban in Doha, Quetta and Khost concerning the quality of the future government. Reports indicate that there are a lot of differences amongst the Taliban.”

He added that there are fronts in this group which believe on inclusive government while there are other Talibans who believe that when we are in power, we would not share power with other.

“The Haqqani Ons current and the Molla Baradar front or more precisely Ghaljaees and Doranis have differences in gaining government qualifications. Under such conditions, their only effort is to suppress public protests.”

This political activist of Afghanistan referred to Ahmad Masood’s call for public uprising in Afghanistan against the Taliban and his demands from the international community not to recognize the Taliban and said “Mr. Masood is still very young and is not aware that he cannot expect anything from the Western countries to help Afghanistan. The global community, Europeans and Americans have deaf ears and Western governments follow the United States. We have been witness to the presence of US intelligence agents under the cover of UN representatives and we reached the conclusion in government for many times that we cannot expect anything even from the United Nations as it is hostage to the US.”