Pakistan Spurring Afghan Rebels, Kabul Charges
President Najibullah on Saturday accused Pakistan of helping U.S.-backed rebels escalate their war against his government to new levels since the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan was completed Feb. 15, causing thousands of civilian casualties and risking regional warfare.
Najibullah blamed the continuing conflict in Afghanistan on Pakistan’s failure to implement the Geneva peace accords, which paved the way for the Soviet withdrawal and pledged Afghanistan and Pakistan to non-interference in each other’s affairs.
The Afghan president also criticized the United States, saying it has failed in its role as a co-guarantor of the U.N.-brokered Geneva accords to persuade Pakistan to observe the terms of the settlement signed April 14, 1988.
The Soviet Union, which invaded in 1979 to prop up a Marxist government beset by internal feuds and a Muslim insurgency, is the other co-guarantor of the accords.
Najibullah, repeating previous charges that Islamabad is aiding the seven main rebel groups based in Pakistan as part of a plan to annex Afghanistan in an Islamic federation, warned that the Afghan civil war could spill over its borders.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
