The caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, said that attacks in Pakistan have surged after the fall of the former government in Afghanistan and the international community was expecting that the situation in Pakistan would improve with the new government “but unfortunately, it worsened.” 

In an interview with the country’s Geo News, Kakar said “the weapons left behind by NATO were used in attacks in Pakistan” and “the effects of the abandoned US military equipment in Afghanistan have started for us” and the “entire region” will see its impact. 

“The abandoned US military equipment is an issue for the entire region,” he said. The caretaker prime minister said that the world expected the situation in Afghanistan to improve with the new government “but unfortunately, it worsened.” And Pakistan “wanted to see a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.” 

The Islamic Emirate meanwhile said that the military equipment that was left behind has remained in the control of the interim government and there is no threat from Afghan soil to foreign countries.

“The remaining equipment from the US is in the control of the Islamic Emirate and is safe. No one should be worried and the concerns in this regard are not true -- they are just propaganda against the Islamic Emirate,” said Suhail Shaheen, head of the Islamic Emirate’s Political Office in Qatar.

Political analysts said that the current situation in Pakistan is due to the dual policy of Islamabad towards Afghanistan.

“Anytime when the people of Afghanistan are taking a fresh breath and major military equipment from abroad has remained here, they (Pakistanis) are a rising voice so the major powers eliminate the equipment,” said Mohammad Saleem Paigir, a political analyst.

“If the equipment was left in the hands of Pakistan like it happened in the time of the previous governments, the Pakistanis would not have such messages for the world and regional countries. I hope the Pakistanis understand that a stable Afghanistan in their neighborhood is in their interest,” said Mohammad Zalmai Afghanyar, a military analyst.   

Meanwhile, Pakistani media reported that the country’s ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, at a think tank event said that although Washington has withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan and its footprint in that part of the world has decreased, the threat of terrorism is still potent.

He said that Pakistan has lost more than 1,500 people since the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, Radio Pakistan reported on its website.

Notice: In an earlier tweet, TOLOnews reported from the Geo News’s website: “The caretaker prime minister added that the world expected the situation in Afghanistan to improve with the new government "but unfortunately, it worsened." And Pakistan "wanted to see a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.”

However, according to Kakar’s video of the interview, the Pakistan caretaker PM said: “the international community was expecting that the situation in Pakistan would improve with the new government but unfortunately, it worsened.”