Taliban Denies Presence in Syria, Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected claims that forces from his group are fighting alongside the ISIL in Syria and Iraq, stressing that the Taliban’s activities are confined to Afghanistan.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency on Sunday, Mujahid dismissed reports about the presence of Taliban fighters in Syria and Iraq as “Western propaganda to defame the Taliban group.”
“We reject any claim in this regard,” he stressed.
“The activities of ‘the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ are limited to Afghanistan’s territories, therefore, it does not interfere in the affairs of other countries,” Mujahid added, referring to the state established in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001.
“The affairs of the other countries are linked with the demands of their nations and should be settled locally. So, the Taliban does not interfere in the affairs of other countries,” the spokesman reiterated.
He also dismissed reports on the entry into Afghanistan of militants affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group.
Mujahid further rejected as "untrue" the claims that non-Afghan forces have presence in parts of Afghanistan such as Ghazni, underlining that Taliban members are all Afghan nationals and will continue their activities within the framework of the Islamic Emirate laws.
Elsewhere, the spokesman voiced Taliban’s strong opposition to a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Afghanistan and the US, singed back on September 30.
“Signing the security pact with Americans is a step towards humiliation of Afghans and continuation of war.”
He stressed that the Islamic Emirate’s fight against foreign occupation will go until the establishment of an Islamic government in Afghanistan.
Mujahid lashed out at new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for signing the pact a day after he was sworn in, saying the move signifies that the new government care about the US interests more than Hamid Karzai did.
On September 30, the US and Afghanistan signed the security deal that will allow nearly 10,000 American troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond the final withdrawal of US and international combat forces this year.
