Some 200,000 families who cooperated with NATO forces under former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled to Pakistan when the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) came to power and are now waiting to be evacuated to the United States and other Western countries, putting a strain on the economy, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told US magazine Newsweek on Saturday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2023) Some 200,000 families who cooperated with NATO forces under former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled to Pakistan when the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) came to power and are now waiting to be evacuated to the United States and other Western countries, putting a strain on the economy, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told US magazine Newsweek on Saturday.
"And recently when NATO forces retreated from Afghanistan and most of the people who worked with the NATO forces during Ashraf Ghani's regime, they are, if I'm not wrong, close to 200,000 families living in Pakistan waiting to be evacuated to United States or other Western countries. So, a burden on our economy burden ... It's so overstretched, it has become impossible for us," Asif said.
At the same time, he noted that despite the disappointments in the history of bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US, the authorities value interaction with Washington and the countries are major trading partners.
The Taliban came to power in August 2021, toppling the US-backed government as NATO troops were leaving the country after almost 20 years of US military presence in the country.
