KABUL: The Taliban told “American invaders” to leave Afghanistan in an announcement marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, assured the people of a bright future under Islamic rule and said it had already liberated “vast areas” of the country.
The Taliban, who announced a surprise three-day cease-fire over the Eid holiday, except against foreign forces, also denounced the US relocation of its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, which “further exposes the absolute hatred of American officials toward Islam.”
Taliban leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada said in the statement that Afghans’ salvation lay in “American and other occupying forces” leaving and repeated a call for talks with the United States.
“If the American officials truly believe in a peaceful end to the Afghan imbroglio, then they must directly present themselves at the negotiation table,” Akhunzada said.
“We also assure our nation (of) a bright future for our country accompanied by peace and prosperity, Allah willing,” he added.
The Taliban are fighting US-led NATO forces, combined under the Resolute Support mission, and the US-backed government to restore sharia, or Islamic law, after their ouster by US-led forces in 2001.
“The American invaders have not desisted from any brutality and severity in pursuit of subduing our nation. They bomb our villages, cities, mosques, madrassas and other events, murder innocent civilians, forcibly displace them and torment thousands of Afghans through unimaginable torture in prisons,” Akhunzada said.
Resolute Support said in response it was hopeful that the Taliban stick to their cease-fire “and we hope that pause leads to dialogue and progress on reconciliation.”
“Considering more than 90 percent of the casualties in Taliban high-profile attacks in Kabul this year are civilians, which is up from more than 80 percent in 2017 and 60 percent in 2016, peace for Afghanistan is overdue,” spokesman Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell said.
The Taliban banned cinema, TV and music during their five-year rule, deeming them un-Islamic, and insisted that women wear all-enveloping burqas. They inflicted harsh punishments for those who did not adhere to their interpretation of Islam.
But observers say life in Taliban-ruled areas now is much more relaxed, with music and TV permitted, girls allowed to go to school up to the age of 11, and women allowed to wear less restrictive dress.
Akhunzada said the Taliban had established “exemplary peace” in areas they control.
SIGAR, a US Congressional watchdog, said in a recent report that the government controlled areas with about 65 percent of the population and controlled or influenced 56.3 percent of districts, the second lowest level since 2015, the first year after most international forces left Afghanistan.
Taliban assure Afghans of bright future once US ‘invaders’ leave
Taliban assure Afghans of bright future once US ‘invaders’ leave
- The Taliban, who announced a surprise three-day cease-fire over the Eid holiday, except against foreign forces, also denounced the US relocation of its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem
- The Taliban are fighting US-led NATO forces, combined under the Resolute Support mission, and the US-backed government to restore sharia, or Islamic law, after their ouster by US-led forces in 2001
Trump says he’s dropping push for National Guard in Chicago, LA and Portland, Oregon, for now
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he’s dropping — for now — his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, a move that comes after legal roadblocks hung up the effort.
Trump said in a social media post Wednesday that he’s removing the Guard troops for now. “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again — Only a question of time!” he wrote.
Troops had already left Los Angeles after the president deployed them earlier this year as part of a broader crackdown on crime and immigration. They had been sent to Chicago and Portland but were never on the streets as legal challenges played out.
Trump’s push to deploy the troops in Democrat-led cities has been met with legal challenges at nearly every turn.
The Supreme Court in December refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area as part of its crackdown on immigration. The order was not a final ruling but was a significant and rare setback by the high court for the president’s efforts.
In the nation’s capital, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued to halt the deployments of more than 2,000 guardsmen.
In Oregon, a federal judge permanently blocked the deployment of National Guard troops there.
California National Guard troops had already been removed from the streets of Los Angeles by Dec. 15 after a court ruling. But an appeals court had paused a separate part of the order that required control of the Guard to return to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In a Tuesday court filing, the Trump administration said it was no longer seeking a pause in that part of the order. That paves the way for the California National Guard troops to fully return to state control after Trump federalized the Guard in June.
