No peace until foreign troops leave Afghanistan: Afghan Taliban

KABUL: The Taliban’s new leader told Kabul on Tuesday it must cancel a security deal with the United States and expel all foreign troops if it wants peace, as 10 Afghan soldiers died in an “insider” attack.

Mullah Mansour, who formally took charge after the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar was confirmed in July, made the demand in a message marking the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Adha.

“If the Kabul administration wants to end the war and establish peace in the country, it is possible through ending the occupation and revoking all military and security treaties with the invaders,” Mansour said.

Highlighting the precarious security situation, 10 soldiers were killed Tuesday after a collaborator allowed Taliban militants access to their post in the northern province of Jawzjan, governor Lutfollah Azizi told AFP.

And six police officers including a district chief were killed the same day by a roadside bomb in the neighbouring province of Balkh.

“The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) believes if the country is not under occupation, the problem of the Afghans can be resolved through intra-Afghan understanding,” Mansour said in the message posted in English on the Taliban’s website.

But Afghan military analyst General Atiqullah Amarkhil said the demand for the cancellation of the security pact was new.

“By issuing such messages Mansour is trying to boost support among his followers and to get more concessions during negotiations,” Amarkhil told AFP.

“Also Mansour wants to show the Afghan people and the world that the Taliban are capable of continuing the war.”

Mansour addressed the rifts in the Eid message by accusing the Taliban’s “enemy” of trying to sow discord in the movement.

“It (the enemy) directly and indirectly spreads baseless rumors regarding split and ramification among the united ranks of Mujahideen,” he said.