Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: Taliban have called on the foreign countries who have military presence in Afghanistan to leave their soldiers, threatening that any of these states that would keep soldiers beyond September 11, would be treated as “invaders force”.
Suhail Shahin, a member of Taliban’s negotiating team, said Monday that the militant group was not trying to take Kabul by force, but urged that no foreign soldier including military contractors should not remain in the city after September 11.
“If their soldiers remain in Afghanistan against the Doha agreement, our leaders will make proper decision,” he said. “We will react and the final decision will be made by Taliban leaders.”
As the foreign countries are pulling their troops out of Afghanistan, reports say that some 1,000 foreign soldiers mostly Americans would stay back here for the security of their embassies and the Kabul airport.
Violence has increased amid the withdrawal of foreign military and Taliban are gaining ground in different parts of the country.
However, Shahin assured that their fighters would not attack foreign diplomatic hubs, non-government organizations and other civilian foreigners in the country.
“Our people need the help of non-government organizations and embassies.”
Shahin called the exit of the US troops from Bagram airbase in the north of Kabul as a “historical moment”.
The government and former jihadi leaders are giving arms to people to make militia groups against Taliban advance.
The US troops are leaving after 20 years, under a peace deal signed in 2020 between Washington and Taliban in Qatar. Taliban in return have vowed not to let international terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda use Afghan soil as a platform to threaten US and other Western states.
Although President Joe Biden of the United States announced September 11 as the last day of his soldiers’ presence in Afghanistan, but reports say that the withdrawal process would end sooner.
September 11 is the day when al-Qaeda-linked terrorists attacked New York and Washington in 2001 after which, former US president George W. Bush sent troops to Afghanistan to suppress al-Qaeda and Taliban who had sheltered the terrorist network.
