Well-organized intelligence agency leads Taliban on battlefields: Omer

The Afghan government has accused the Taliban of being a proxy force for an intelligence agency which “provides the group with equipment and facilities.”

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Waheed Omer, President Ghani’s advisor and director-general of the Office of Public and Strategic Affairs, stated that a well-organized intelligence agency is leading Taliban war across the country.

Omer, however, did not elaborate on the agency.

The Taliban has also rejected the claims.

His remarks come a day after Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed admitted that the families of Taliban live in his country, including in areas around the capital, Islamabad, and that members of the insurgent group receive medical treatment in local hospitals.

“Taliban families live here, in Pakistan, in Rawat, Loi Ber, Bara Kahuh, and Tarnol,” Rashid told the Urdu-language network citing the names of Islamabad suburbs. “Sometimes their dead bodies arrive and sometimes they come here in hospitals to get medical treatment,” he said.

Meanwhile, Presidential Advisor Omer stated: “The Taliban fights for and being funded by a well-organized intelligence agency, and their wounded are being treated across the border [Pakistan].”

“The United States is aware of the issue. And we do not see the genuine commitment of Pakistan [to Afghanistan],” Omer noted.