Former head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), Rahmatullah Nabil, has claimed that during the early years of Ashraf Ghani’s presidency, a separate and confidential telephone line was installed at the Presidential Palace (Arg) for the president and the national security adviser to maintain direct communication with Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and receive information from it.
In an interview with Afghanistan International TV, Nabil said that during that period, officials at the Arg gave greater importance to information provided by the ISI than to reports from Afghanistan’s own intelligence agency. According to him, as a result, many of the NDS’s security assessments and intelligence reports were ignored.
The former NDS chief also stated that at the beginning of Ashraf Ghani’s administration, Mohammad Hanif Atmar served as national security adviser. He noted that Atmar had faced allegations at the time, including claims of supporting ISIS and signing classified intelligence documents with the ISI allegations that had previously circulated in Afghanistan’s political sphere.
In another part of the interview, Nabil said that recommendations from the NDS regarding investigations into major corruption cases involving senior government officials were also disregarded. He argued that this pattern was among the key factors that contributed to the weakening of Afghanistan’s former government.
The former intelligence chief further alleged that despite their public positions and criticism of Pakistan while serving in the Arg, Ashraf Ghani and Mohammad Hanif Atmar maintained direct communication with the ISI through this channel.
Meanwhile, some informed sources have previously claimed that, hours before Ashraf Ghani’s departure from Kabul, Ghani and then-national security adviser Hamdullah Mohib held confidential phone conversations with the Haqqani network and individuals in Pakistan. According to these sources, the discussions focused on the process of transferring power to the Haqqani network.
The allegations made by Rahmatullah Nabil and the aforementioned sources have not been officially confirmed or denied by Ashraf Ghani, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Hamdullah Mohib, or Pakistani officials.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
