Pakistan National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yousuf’s latest interview has sparked a controversy after it was indicated that the security official suggested the risk of ‘second 9/11’ if the Western countries do not recognise Taliban.

However, in a statement issued later on Sunday, the Office of the Pak NSA asked ‘The Times’ to retract what they called a “frivolous” interpretation of Mr Yusuf’s interview with journalist Christina Lamb.

The office of Pak NSA said the story titled “Work with the Taliban or Repeat the Horror of the 1990s, West Told,” published in The Times on August 28, 2021, wrongly interpreted the interview of NSA Dr Moeed Yusuf.

In The Times interview, Mr Yusuf had said, “Mark my words. If the mistakes of the Nineties are made again and Afghanistan abandoned, the outcome will be absolutely the same — a security vacuum filled by undesirable elements who will threaten everyone, Pakistan and the West.”

Pak NSA’s office termed the British publication’s story as a “gross mischaracterisation” of the conversation that took place between journalist Lamb and Yousuf.

“At no point did he state that the West should ‘immediately recognize’ the Taliban, as the article states. Nor was there any ‘warning’ of a second 9/11 linked to formal ‘recognition’ of the Taliban,” the statement from Mr Yousuf’s office said, as quoted by Radio Pakistan.

This controversy comes as many experts and the majority of Afghans believe that Islamabad is behind the Taliban’s aggressive advance against the government forces in Afghanistan and that Islamabad has been assisting the terror group on all possible fronts.