WASHINGTON, 04 September 2021, (TON): The US State Department has refused to endorse former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani’s claim that 10 to 15 thousand Pakistanis had joined the Taliban offensive on Kabul.

Instead, a senior State Department official praised Pakistan and other partners for providing critical assistance to US efforts to evacuate American troops and civilians from Afghanistan.

“I’m just not in a position to comment on that, to confirm those reports” said the department’s spokesperson Ned Price when asked to comment on Mr Ghani’s claim. The US official did not respond to another query: Whether Washington still considers Mr Ghani as Afghanistan’s legitimate ruler.

“If we have anything more, we’ll provide it,” said Mr Price when asked if he would comment on another claim that the Taliban forces now in Kabul include foreign troops.

But Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who also addressed this Wednesday afternoon news briefing, included Pakistan among a dozen countries who, she said, provided critical support to US evacuation efforts.

“We’re enormously grateful to the huge network of countries that have provided critical assistance for our evacuation efforts,” she said while naming Pakistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE among the countries that supported the evacuation. She also named America’s key European allies – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and others “who have helped transit Americans and others to safety.”

She said “our close coordination with our allies and partners remains critical both on evacuation and relocation, but also as we begin to scope our ongoing relationship with the Afghan people and with the Taliban.”

The US media published excerpts from a July 23 conversation between President Joe Biden and Mr Ghani. In that telephone call, Mr. Biden urges his Afghan counterpart to empower his Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi to combat Taliban fighters in key population centres.

Mr Ghani responds by claiming that he was “facing a full-scale invasion” by Taliban and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis.

Commenting on such claims, Pakistan’s US Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan said that Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan was being mischaracterised.