Kabul Asks US To Clarify Trump’s ‘Wiping Afghanistan Off’ Remark

Trump made several surprising statements on Monday alongside Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House.

Donald Trump made controversial statements on Afghanistan during his meeting with Imran Khan.

(Photo: AP)

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday, 23 July said that the United States should clarify the recent remarks made by President Donald Trump about Afghanistan, including a claim that he could easily win the war but didn't "want to kill 10 million people."

The US leader made several surprising statements on Monday, 22 July alongside Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House.

He said that he had plans for a quick end to the Afghan conflict, but it would wipe the country “off the face of the Earth.”

“Afghanistan would be gone. It would be over in literally 10 days," said Trump. He added, "I don't want to go that route" and that he didn't want to kill millions.

Remarks Stir Outcry in War-Torn Afghanistan

His comments were met with criticism and outrage in Afghanistan, where the war-weary and traumatised population is already worried about a precipitous pull-out of US forces and whether that means a return to Taliban rule and a spiralling civil war.

“The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan calls for clarification on the US president’s statements expressed at a meeting with the Pakistan prime minister, via diplomatic means and channels,” Ghani’s office said in a statement.

The Afghans took to social media to vent against Trump's comments.

"I feel shocked, threatened and humiliated. We trusted Americans to help us in the war against terror, and now President Trump is threatening us with genocide," a Facebook user Mohd Farhad wrote.

Trump also said that Pakistan would help the US “extricate” itself from Afghanistan, adding that there was "tremendous potential" in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad.

‘Foreign States Cannot Determine Afghanistan’s Fate’

"While the Afghan government supports the US efforts for ensuring peace in Afghanistan, the government underscores that foreign heads of state cannot determine Afghanistan's fate in absence of the Afghan leadership," Ghani's office said.

Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for fuelling the Afghan conflict and for supporting the Taliban, and Ghani is furious about being continually sidelined by US in the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban.

Pakistan was the Taliban's chief sponsor when it took power in neighbouring Afghanistan during the 1990s.

Its influence over the group, which has waged an insurgency since it was ousted from power by US-led forces in 2001, is seen as key in facilitating a political settlement with Ghani's government.

Meanwhile, Trump's peace envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Tuesday ahead of what will be the eighth round of direct talks he has held with the Taliban.

These discussions are expected to get underway in Doha in the coming days, with Ghani and his administration once again locked out.

(Published in an arrangement with PTI.)