Daily Times

Taliban on Wednesday urged neighbouring countries of Afghanistan not to host American or other allied forces in their countries as ‘foreign forces’ are the ‘root cause’ of insecurity and war in the region.

In a statement, they said that the ‘Islamic Emirate’ wanted to clarify its position in advance regarding the ‘expected’ American military bases in the region. “We know through media outlets that the United States is interested stay in our neighbourhood after withdrawing from Afghanistan,” they said.

The Taliban said that the American forces were still interested to carry out ‘military operations’ in Afghanistan. In the last 20 years, they said that everyone suffered and still suffering due to the presence of these foreign forces. “We urge neighbouring countries not to allow anyone to stay in their country,” they said, without mentioning any country’s name.

“If such a step is taken once again (to allowing foreign military bases), it will be a great and historic mistake and disgrace that will be inscribed in history,” the statement said. It said that the Muslims of Afghanistan will not remain silent in front of such ‘provocative acts.’ This time, “Afghans will fulfill their religious responsibilities in the same way as they had performed throughout the history,” they said.

“As we have repeatedly assured ‘others’ that our (Afghan) soil will not be used against security of others, and we are similarly urging ‘others’ not to use their soil and airspace against our country,” they said. “If such a step is taken then the responsibility for all the misfortunes and difficulties lies upon those who commit such mistakes,” they said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the statement, allegedly issued by the Taliban in the name of ‘Islamic Emirates’ of Afghanistan, carried neither name of any neighbouring country nor they discussed the issue in details. But they used word ‘other’ instead of the name of a country.