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Pakistan, Russia, China strive for peace in Afghanistan — newspaper

On August 11, Pakistan, China, Russia, and the US will meet in Doha to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and ways to reach a political settlement

© EPA-EFE/JALIL REZAYEE

ISLAMABAD, August 2. / TASS /. Pakistan, jointly with other countries, including Russia and China, will seek a peaceful settlement of the situation in Afghanistan to prevent a civil war, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister for National Security Moeed Yusuf and Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed stated while visiting the US.

According to The Express Tribune newspaper, during a meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and other US officials, Yusuf and Hameed emphasized that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would allow terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda (banned in Russia) to "regroup and eventually become a security threat not only to the region but also to Washington."

"Pakistan wants the US to remain engaged with the Afghan situation in order to ensure that there is some political settlement after its withdrawal instead of civil war," the newspaper noted. "The worry in Pakistan is that the US may abandon Afghanistan altogether leaving regional countries to face the blowback of a potential civil war in Afghanistan. It is because of this reason that Pakistan has been working with regional countries including Russia and China to prevent the civil war in Afghanistan." However, Pakistan is "still seeking to engage with the Biden administration," according to The Express Tribune.

Furthermore, Islamabad is pinning hopes for an early settlement of the Afghan situation on a meeting with senior officials of Pakistan, China, Russia and the US scheduled for August 11 in Doha. The sides will address the situation in Afghanistan and ways to reach a political settlement.

The Afghan situation significantly aggravated in April 2021, after President Joe Biden announced that the US forces’ operation in the republic had been completed and the US troops had been withdrawn from Afghanistan. As a result, the Taliban movement (banned in Russia) intensified its attacks in a number of fronts. The Taliban took several dozen areas under control in the country and seized some key frontier posts on the country’s borders with Tajikistan, Iran and Pakistan.

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