Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
Taliban splinter group says their 30,000-strong army is waging war against ‘Taliban Emirate’ militants
AT News
KABUL: A Taliban splinter commander has said that peace negotiators in Qatar are stooges of Pakistan – amid marathon Washington-Taliban talks to find a solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdulmanan Niazi said that the group has a 30,000-strong army of combatants across Afghanistan who are just waging war against those militants hailing from the ‘Taliban Emirate’.
Deputy Chief of Taliban splinter group – known with nom de guerre ‘Mullah Rasoul group’ which is active in western Afghanistan – said that Taliban negotiators in Qatar are being dictated by Pakistani establishment. “In fact, they are representing Pakistan, not the Taliban. Even the proposal of reduction in violence has been mooted by Pakistan,” he said.
Niazi said Americans should come in terms with the fact that if they will have hammered out a peace deal with the Taliban’s pseudo-representatives in Qatar they will have actually reached an agreement with Pakistan. “Pakistan is trying to deceive the United States; Americans should be directly negotiating with Pakistanis if they keep turning a blind eye to the voice of the Afghan nation,” he said.
Mullah Rasoul splintered from the Taliban five years ago. He was believed to have been arrested and killed by Pakistani authorities in 2018 – a claim the group denies.
