 By October 1994 the Taliban movement had according to academic consensus and on-the-ground reports attracted the support of Pakistan which saw in the Taliban a way to secure trade routes to Central Asia and establish a government in Kabul friendly to its interests.Pakistani politicians during that time repeatedly denied supporting the Taliban.But senior Pakistani officials such as Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar would later state, "we created the Taliban" and former Pakistani President Musharraf would write "we sided" with the Taliban to "spell the defeat" of anti-Taliban forces.