Pak Asked Group To Shut Down Qosh Tapa Canal, Says Taliban Official

An official from the Taliban's Ministry of Information and Culture has stated that Pakistani authorities have asked the leaders of the group to shut down the Qosh Tapa canal.

Abdul Haq Hammad, Director of the Broadcasting Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Information and Culture of the Taliban said that Pakistani officials have discussed the Qosh Tapa Canal in official meetings with the Taliban.

During an interview with TOLOnews TV, Hammad added that Pakistani officials have repeatedly and clearly asked Taliban leaders in official meetings to "shut down the Qosh Tapa canal”.

Hammad did not name any Pakistani officials, but added that when asked why the canal should be shut, they said, "This canal is detrimental to us."

Hammad said that the reason for making this request is that the canal will contribute to Afghanistan's "self-sufficiency" and Pakistan is concerned that, once achieved, Afghanistan may no longer depend on Islamabad.

He argued that the military establishment has the monopoly of power in Pakistan and a significant portion of the country's political landscape revolves around the notion that "Pakistan's interests are served by the destabilisation of Afghanistan”.

This Taliban official made the claim even as Pakistan has always been accused of supporting Taliban.

Hammad called the civilian government of Pakistan "poor" and its status as "symbolic". He claimed that the Pakistani army has "considered Afghanistan's loss as its gain" in the past decades as he considered it to be the "most dangerous point" in Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan.

In the past two years, the Taliban has invested a substantial amount of money in the Qosh Tapa canal project, which diverts a portion of the Amu River's water to the northern regions of Balkh, Jowzjan, and Faryab provinces.

It is said that the canal is intended to provide irrigation for approximately 550,000 hectares of land and serve up to three million people. Critics contend that the Taliban may have employed the canal to relocate their targeted population and advance the group’s strategic objectives.