A Taliban spokesman said: “We have been fighting the United States and its allies for twenty years. Our country was and still is under occupation. The United States must help bring peace and prosperity to the people of Afghanistan.
In an interview with Press TV, Soheil Shahin, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, spoke about the Taliban’s position on some important issues related to the establishment of the group as the ruling group in Afghanistan.
You can read the details of this conversation below:
What kind of government is currently envisaged for Afghanistan?
As you can see, for the past twenty years we have been fighting against the occupation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. But now our leaders are consulting with each other to establish an inclusive Islamic state in Afghanistan, and Afghan politicians and personalities will be present. This is the purpose of the consultations that are currently underway.
As for the inclusiveness of the government, will the Pashtun ethnic group also be part of the government?
Yes sure. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is not based on a specific ethnicity. As you know, we have Tajik ethnicity in Badakhshan. There are also provinces such as Faryab, Saripul and other northern states that are Uzbek. Thus, the Pashtuns in the south and other ethnicities together constitute the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and in fact they constitute the people of Afghanistan. We want all Afghans to be part of the inclusive Islamic State of Afghanistan. Therefore, all ethnicities can participate in building Afghanistan as well as in the government; Because this is their right.
My question is about the Taliban’s fight against the ISIS terrorist group and the Taliban’s relationship with ISIS. If ISIS, like al-Qaeda, says it wants to be under your umbrella, what position will the Taliban take against this terrorist group?
First, ISIS is not an Afghan entity, but a foreign phenomenon present in Afghanistan. Secondly, we expelled them from the northern province as well as the eastern province of Nangarhar in Kunar, and about 2,600 ISIS members were handed over to the Kabul government. During the two or three years of our war with ISIS, about 1,200 people from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan were martyred. As I said, we expelled ISIL from those states, so there are no ISIL members in Afghanistan now. If ISIL is found again, they will be suppressed. The people of Afghanistan do not want ISIL because ISIL has committed acts of violence against them. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants an Islamic state with the presence of all ethnicities and in fact will be a moderate Islamic state that will have relations with other neighbors and countries of the world.
You said that ISIS no longer exists in Afghanistan. As you know, the United States in its statement yesterday pointed to the lack of security in trying to reach Kabul airport and that it could not guarantee the security of the Americans in Afghanistan due to the attacks of ISIS. What do you think about this?
There are no ISIS members openly in any of the provinces of Afghanistan and they may only exist in secret. Of course, our intelligence and security agencies monitor all the provinces and regions of Afghanistan. As I said, this is possible because some members of ISIL were in prison and government forces in Kabul left their posts, and thus ISIL members were able to get out of prisons. So they may be hidden. Of course, we have taken precautions to prevent any such incidents.
Will the Taliban seek compensation for the 20-year occupation of Afghanistan by the United States and try to bring Washington to an international tribunal? What is your assessment of Taliban-Washington relations at this time?
We fought the United States and its allies for twenty years. Our country was and still is under occupation because American forces have not completely left the country. We want to end this period and start a new chapter in which we will see peace, reconstruction of the country and peaceful coexistence between the people of the country as well as relations with other countries. I think in this new era, the United States has a moral responsibility to participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan because the Americans played a role in destroying this country and killing its people. The United States must help bring peace and prosperity to the people of Afghanistan. This is a moral commitment to America. In this new era, we want to have good relations with the whole world.
