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Taliban uncompromising on US presence

July 2, 2016

Newly appointed Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has used his first public address to call on the US to withdraw from Afghanistan. The militant mullah took charge after his predecessor was killed by a US drone.

https://p.dw.com/p/1JHuE
Afghanistan Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Afghan Islamic Press via AP

The new Taliban chief said Saturday that foreign forces must end their "occupation" of Afghanistan as a preliminary step to a settlement based on Islamic law that he vowed would bring unity to a country riven by decades of conflict.

The top UN official in Afghanistan warned last month of the danger of a new spiral of violence following accelerated attacks in the 15-year-old conflict.

The Taliban now control more territory than any time since the 2001 invasion. But the human cost has been extraordinary, with at least 11,000 civilian deaths last year alone.

"Admit the realities instead of useless use of force and muscle... and put an end to the occupation," Akhundzada said in a speech on the eve of Eid-al-Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan.

"Our message to the American invaders and her allies is this: the Afghan Muslim people neither fear... your force nor your stratagem," he said. "They consider martyrdom in confrontation with you as a cherished goal of their life."

Afghanistan Taliban-Führer Akhtar Mohammed Mansur durch Drohne getötet
Peace talks have indefinitely stalled since the US drone strike against Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Pakistan last May.Image: Reuters

An uncompromising figure

Akhundzada was named leader of the Taliban after his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was assassinated in May by a US drone in Pakistan.

He said the Taliban had a program aimed at creating an independent and united country under a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and told the Western-backed government in Kabul that "the doors of forgiveness and tolerance are open."

Akhundzada said he's instructed Taliban fighters not to harm Muslims or public facilities including hospitals, schools, bridges and public utilities, and not to oppress areas under their control.

Angriff auf NATO Truppen in Afghanistan
MIlitants have repeatedly staged attacks on NATO bases in AfghanistanImage: dapd

Predecessor killed in Pakistan

The statement came two days after suicide attacks killed more than 30 newly graduated Afghan police cadets and wounded dozens more. That followed an equally brazen suicide attack that killed more than 20 people in Kabul and the northern province of Badakhshan.

The resurgent Taliban have been fighting against the Western-installed Kabul government since they were ousted from power by a US-led invasion in late 2001.

NATO leaders plan to meet at a summit in Warsaw on July 8-9 where they are expected to approve maintaining support for the Kabul government up to 2020.

Peace talks broke down last year after it was revealed that Mansour had covered up the death of the Taliban's founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, two years earlier.

jar/tj (Reuters, AFP)