#Sanctiononpakistan is a top Twitter trend in Afghanistan

In the past 4 days, Afghan social media users have put up thousands of posts on Twitter and other platforms using the hashtag #sanctiononpakistan, aiming to draw the international community’s attention to the allegations of Pakistani support for the Taliban. Pakistani officials have denied such allegations.
A social media expert said the hashtag “sanctiononpakistan” was the top Twitter trend in Afghanistan for the past 4 days and the 2nd most popular trend in Pakistan.
Social media users from European countries and in other parts of the world also joined the campaign.
“People can raise their voices through social media and draw the attention of the international community towards the Afghan people. This indicates that the people are not living in the past decades and they are defending their motherland,” said Negina Yari, a human rights activist.
“These hashtags are shared by people, not bots,” said Fahim Ahmad Yousuzad, an IT expert, referring to automated social media accounts that can produce the illusion of a groundswell of broad public support for a particular message, as per media reports.
Social media users also expressed hope that the trend will cause international sanctions to be imposed on Pakistan.
“The wounded members of the Taliban are being treated in Pakistan, their leaders live in Pakistan,” said Khaled, a resident of Kabul.
“If Pakistan’s support for terrorism does not stop, the nation will pose a threat to the entire world,” said Naser, another resident of Kabul.
The Afghan government has accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban in the militant group’s war against Afghanistan.