Friday, November 15, 2013

Afghan Taliban lashes out at upcoming Loya Jirga

 KABUL, Nov. 11 (Xinhua)

 The Afghan Taliban on Monday lashed out at the upcoming Loya Jirga or grand assembly of tribal elders, notables and government functionaries to take final decision with regard to the proposed security pact known as Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Kabul and Washington, saying the move is an excuse to prolong the presence of U.S. troops in the country.

In a statement sent to local media outlets, the Taliban outfit said that those who attend the coming Loya Jirga will not be the real representatives of the Afghans.

Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit, said in the statement that, "the Loya Jirga is designed to recommend another 10-year stay of the U.S. invaders in Afghanistan despite the fact that they have killed and detained innocent people and destroyed their properties over the last 12 years."

In the statement, the Taliban also noted that the solution of Afghan crisis is the unconditional pullout of foreign forces from Afghanistan. However, majority of Afghans believe that with total withdrawal of NATO-led troops from Afghanistan the country would plunge into turmoil.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (name of ousted Taliban regime) believes inking any kind of agreement with the U.S. is against Sharia (Islamic laws)," the purported spokesman, Mujahid noted in the statement.

"The people of Afghanistan will not accept any strategic agreement with the U.S., even it gets rubber stamped by a phony Loya Jirga," Mujahid said in the statement, warning any person who takes part in the gathering will be a litigate target of the Taliban fighters.

According to officials in Kabul, the Jirga is expected to be convened in Kabul city within week.

The controversial security pact, if inked would facilitate the United States to keep limited number of its troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 when the NATO-led forces leave the conflict-ridden country.

No comments:

Post a Comment