Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Friday said Islamabad had made a mistake in the 1980s by becoming part of the Afghan Jihad along with the United States.
 
Criticizing Pakistan’s policy of indulging in the then Afghan war, the PTI chairman said the country hired the Jihadis for dollars and then went on to eliminate them for dollars, Geo News reported.
 
"We suffered a huge loss due to this policy," the former cricket hero said.
 
He said Pakistan was still battling militant groups that had been set up during that war.
 
Khan on Friday expressed his wish to become prime minister, reported Geo News.

Speaking at the Leaders in Islamabad Summit, Khan said that he wants to become prime minister so that he can strengthen institutions. “I will spend all resources on human development,” he said.

The Soviet–Afghan War lasted over nine years, from December 1979 to February 1989. Insurgent groups known as the mujahideen fought against the Soviet Army – an estimated million civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran. The war is considered part of the Cold War.