Afghan President Points Finger at Pakistan After Bombings in Kabul - nytimes

KABUL, Afghanistan — Under pressure after a wave of deadly bombings in the Afghan capital, President Ashraf Ghani on Monday accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to mass gatherings of Taliban fighters in its territory, where such attacks are planned.

Mr. Ghani’s words, a sharp break from the conciliatory tone he had taken toward Pakistan for much of his first year in office, came just hours after a suicide car bomb struck a crowded entrance of the international airport in Kabul, leaving at least five people dead and 16 wounded. Attacks in the Afghan capital over the last four days have left nearly 70 people dead and hundreds wounded.

At a news conference flanked by his war cabinet, Mr. Ghani said thatAfghanistan’s relationship with Pakistan had reached a critical point and that the steps taken by the neighboring country in the coming weeks would have long-term repercussions.

His comments suggested that the nascent peace process facilitated by Pakistan, where some representatives of the Taliban met with Afghan government officials for the first time last month, was effectively dead for now.

“We hoped for peace, but war is declared against us from Pakistani territory,” Mr. Ghani said, referring to his 10-month effort to establish a friendlier relationship with Pakistan. The effort has cost him some political support at home, given the persistent belief here that the Pakistani military has still been actively guiding the Afghan insurgency as a proxy force.

“The incidents of the past two months in general, and the recent days in particular, show that the suicide training camps and the bomb-making facilities used to target and murder our innocent people still operate, as in the past, in Pakistan,” he said. - Read More at NYT

Afghan President Points Finger at Pakistan After Bombings in Kabul

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