Afghan peace dialogue talk “propaganda of occupation forces”: Taliban commander

KABUL - In the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, ‘dialogue for peace’ with the Taliban is baseless and nothing more than propaganda, Taliban commander Maulavi Abdul Kabir has said.

“As far as Afghanistan’s current circumstances are concerned, peace process will only be possible if it results in the guaranteed expulsion of occupation forces and paves the way for the establishment of Islamic State. Any such process seems to be unachievable in the presence of occupation forces,” Kabir said in an interview with the Taliban news website.

When asked about his view on the significance of the ‘Great Peace Shura’ (council) announced by the Hamid Karzai-led Afghan government, the efficacy of the council’s members, which include some familiar faces of leaders of some earlier movements, and its role towards achieving peace, the Taliban leader replied that this particular ’shura’ had no such credibility because it was “one sided and is intended to serve personal profits and benefits.”

“To a far extent, its members are in favour of American occupation, although they consider themselves ‘Jihadi leaders’, which they were at the times of Jihad against the Russians, but as a result of their support for American occupation, they have no such status in the sight of Afghan nation. Similarly, those members who are representing the Islamic Emirate and are considered to have participated in the ‘peace shura’ can never represent Islamic Emirate, because they themselves are under American surveillance and custody,” he added.

Responding to another question about reports that Taliban leaders were engaged in talks with the Americans or the Kabul regime, Kabir said that since the US forces in Afghanistan had been “defeated militarily and their combatants have failed in this regard,” the US and its allies were now “trying to have at least some political gains.”

“Hence they try hard to expand and boast about this show, they also try to provide with some fabricated proofs and mention names of Taliban leaders that they are in contact with and they are inclined to peace talks. Whereas all this is nothing but propaganda of occupation forces who try to create an atmosphere of mistrust between ordinary Afghans and Mujahideen,” the Taliban commander said.

“You can see that the enemy of Islam, in spite of enormous propaganda, cannot provide any evidence of peace talks with the authorities of Islamic Emirate. This is a proof in itself that neither there has been any peace talk nor has any authority of Islamic Emirate shown any inclination towards it,” he added. (ANI)