Former Afghan Interior Minister Omar Dawoodzai has criticized statements by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, stressing that the Taliban do not represent the Afghan people and constitute only a small portion of the country’s population, Afintl.af reports.
In a Facebook post dated December 22, Dawoodzai commented on Munir’s remarks claiming that most militants of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are Afghans. According to the former minister, if Munir was referring to Afghans living beyond the Durand Line, the statement may carry some weight. However, he emphasized that Afghan Taliban members, by his estimate, make up less than 5% of Afghanistan’s population and cannot be regarded as representatives of the country.
Dawoodzai underlined that the Afghan people have repeatedly made clear that they harbor no hostility toward Pakistan. He added that Islamabad’s disputes are primarily linked to the TTP and possibly to the Afghan Taliban, and should not be framed as a confrontation with Afghanistan’s civilian population or used to justify pressure on Afghan migrants.
The former interior minister recalled that in August 2021 thousands of TTP leaders were released from Afghan prisons, noting that Pakistani Taliban fighters had previously fought alongside the Afghan Taliban against the former Afghan government before turning their focus on challenging the Pakistani state.
According to Dawoodzai, sweeping generalizations and evasion of responsibility only exacerbate tensions rather than resolve them. He called for transparent policies, acknowledgment of past mistakes, and rejection of collective blame.
Asim Munir made the remarks on December 10 at a national conference of religious scholars in Islamabad. Pakistani media reported on December 21 that he warned Pakistan would not tolerate threats to its security or sovereignty from TTP militants based in Afghanistan.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 23, 2025