ISLAMABAD, 12 October 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the United States to deliver an aid package to Afghanistan to prevent the collapse of the Afghan state so that it does not turn into a safe haven for global terrorists, particularly the Islamic State.

In an interview with Middle East Eye, broadcasted on Monday, the premier said “the US has no other option but to support the new Taliban regime because a failure to do so will result in a humanitarian disaster as well.”

He said in reference to the fall of Kabul to the Taliban forces in August “it’s a really critical time and the US has to pull itself together because people in the United States are in a state of shock.”

“They were imagining some sort of democracy, nation-building or liberated women, and suddenly they find the Taliban are back. There is so much anger and shock and surprise. Unless America takes the lead, we are worried that there will be chaos in Afghanistan and we will be most affected by that.”

Imran said that the support to the Taliban will also keep in check the rise of the Islamic State in Afghanistan and the US should do everything to support a stable government in the country.

The premier added “the world must engage with Afghanistan because if it pushes it away, within the Taliban movement there are hardliners, and it could easily go back to the Taliban of 2000 and that would be a disaster.”