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Taliban issue veiled threat in response to new drawdown plan
The Taliban said on Thursday the US decision to pull out of Afghanistan starting May 1 is in violation of the agreement signed between the two parties in Doha last year an in turn issued a veiled threat to foreign forces.
The Taliban said in a statement that the agreement was that all troops would be out of Afghanistan by the end of April and that US President Joe Biden’s decision to delay the withdrawal “is a clear violation of the Doha Agreement and non-compliance with its commitments.”
Because of the extended stay in Afghanistan, the Taliban said it would “take every necessary countermeasure, hence the American side will be held responsible for all future consequences.”
On Wednesday night Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg both officially announced the full withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan starting May 1 and ending by September 11 – the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
But the Taliban noted their dissatisfaction over the decision and called on foreign stakeholders to put pressure on the US to exit Afghanistan within the next two weeks.
“As this agreement was signed in the presence of United Nations and representatives of numerous world countries and organizations, and is currently being breached by America, it is imperative that all countries and organizations that were witnesses to the signing of this agreement exert pressure on America to implement its commitments and withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by the specified date,” read the statement.
The Taliban stated that the US has breached the agreement regarding the release of the remaining 6,000 prisoners within three months of the start to intra-Afghan negotiations, and through their failure to remove the group’s name from the UN blacklist.
The Taliban also accused the US of having carried out “over 1,200 violations”.
The group stated “delaying the withdrawal date of forces by several months, all makes evident to the world that America cannot be trusted nor is it committed to its pledges and promises.”
The group claimed it has adhered to stipulation in the agreement and “considered it the sole solution to the conflict”.
“Now as the agreement is being breached by America, it in principle opens the way for the Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate to take every necessary countermeasure, hence the American side will be held responsible for all future consequences, and not the Islamic Emirate,” the statement read.
The Taliban urged the US and NATO alliance countries to immediately withdraw their troops and stated it “will under no circumstance ever relent on complete independence and establishment of a pure Islamic system, and remains committed to finding a peaceful solution to the Afghan problem following the complete and certain end of occupation.”
Three road construction projects worth about one billion Afghanis started in capital Kabul on Saturday.
The projects were inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The projects are: the second phase of Kotal Khairkhane road, the first part of the Shahid square to Qasaba, and the Airport road to Gumruk.
In the inauguration ceremony, Mullah Baradar said that Kabul municipality is working hard to beautify and regulate the city, and people should cooperate with the government in protecting public benefit projects.
He directed the officials of Kabul municipality to complete the mentioned projects on time and with good quality.
The second phase of Kotel Khairkhaneh road is 2.5 kilometers long and 60 meters wide. Thie road will cost 364 million Afghanis and will be completed in 20 months.
The Shahid square-Qasaba road is 1.8 kilometers long and 45 meters wide, which will be built at a cost of 175 million Afghanis in one year.
The Airport-Gumruk road is 2.7 km long and 60 meters wide, which will be completed at a cost of 407 million Afghanis in 20 months.
The projects are funded by Kabul Municipality.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said on Friday that the main threat for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members emanates from Afghanistan where international terrorist groups find shelter due to unstable and indefinite political situation.
Speaking at a meeting of the SCO defense ministers in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, Shoygu said Washington has stepped up efforts to restore its positions in Central and South Asia that were lost after the withdrawal of coalition troops from Afghanistan, Anadolu Agency reported.
The military chief called “unacceptable” the deployment of the American military infrastructure in the region, arguing that intentions should be regarded as “a direct threat to stability in the SCO space.”
According to him, the US is trying to impose a new security system in the Asia-Pacific region for dominance.
This comes as the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly emphasized that it does not allow anyone to pose threats to any other country from Afghanistan soil.
Recently, Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid, Acting Minister of National Defense Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid said that no destructive groups including Daesh have physical presence in Afghanistan,
In a statement on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the Mujahideen against the then communist government, the Islamic Emirate said that it is a day of freedom of the Afghan nation.
The Islamic Emirate described the coup by People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan on 27th April 1978 as a dark day in history, as a result of which the people of Afghanistan suffered severe human and financial losses.
The statement said that the Afghan nation suffered huge casualties in their 14-year struggle against the thoughts and actions of the communists, as 1.5 million people died and millions more faced various hardships.
“After 20 years of Jihad, our country was freed from another occupation and the Islamic system was established, so the Islamic Emirate will make its utmost efforts so that the fruits of decades of sacrifice and struggle of this nation are not wasted,” the statement said.
“It was the wish of the martyrs to fully implement the Islamic system in the country, and therefore, the Islamic Emirate is trying to facilitate development and prosperity under the shadow of the Islamic system in order to realize the goals of the Afghan people’s jihads,” it added.
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