55% of Pakistanis happy with Taliban government in Afghanistan, says poll

“Are you happy with the formation of the Taliban government in Afghanistan?” Pakistanis were asked in a poll. Around 55 per cent responded “yes”.

The poll was conducted among 2,400 people between August 13 and September 5 by Gallup Pakistan, a Geo News report said, adding that 25 per cent of those asked said they were unhappy while 20 per cent had no response.

According to the report, people in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had the strongest support for the Taliban government with 65 per cent of respondents saying they were happy. In Balochistan about 55 per cent, and in Punjab and Sindh 54 per cent respondents expressed happiness over the formation of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

The poll also revealed that among those who supported the Taliban government, 68 per cent were above the age of 50. Among the men, about 58 per cent favoured the group while among women, the rate was 36 per cent.

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In urban areas of the nation, 59 per cent of respondents were “happy” with the formation of the Taliban government and 20 per cent were “unhappy”. Among rural respondents, 53 per cent people were “happy” and 28 per cent were “unhappy”.

The Taliban have formed a government in Afghanistan and set up an all-male interim cabinet, taking over the country after years of fighting from US-led Afghan forces, and amid the fleeing of president Ashraf Ghani last month.

After the fall of Kabul in August, reports had surfaced of Pakistanis celebrating the takeover and many describing the Taliban victory as a gross failure of the US forces.

In the wake of the Taliban takeover after 20 years of US intervention, thousands of Afghan residents had thronged to the Kabul airport and other border areas to flee the country.

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