Islamabad, September 20: The leader of the Taliban movement issued a warning to Western troops in Afghanistan that their “unequivocal defeat” is imminent and they should learn the lessons of history.
Weeks before the eighth anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime, Mullah Omar painted Afghanistan as a graveyard for “colonial” troops.
In a statement issued to mark the Muslim festival of Eid, he referred to “huge casualties and sagging morale” among the more than 100,000 NATO and US-led troops in Afghanistan fighting Taliban-linked insurgents.
“The more the enemy resorts to increasing forces, the more they will face an unequivocal defeat in Afghanistan,” the statement said.
Taliban-linked rebels have been resurgent in recent months, retreating from the battlefield as they intensify use of roadside bombs, particularly in the south.
This year more than 350 foreign troops have been killed, making it the deadliest year since the invasion on October 7, 2001.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Saturday a soldier — whose nationality was not given — was killed in a firefight in the south.
On Thursday six Italian troops and at least 10 Afghan civilians were killed in a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul.
The attack led to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi saying Italy now wanted to reduce its deployment in Afghanistan but only with agreement from NATO partners.
“We are keen to bring our boys home as soon as possible,” Berlusconi said.
Omar is a founder of the Taliban and is often referred to as its “supreme commander.” He is believed to be in Pakistan.
In his statement, he said that by maintaining their troops in Afghanistan the international community “will only prolong the current crisis but will never solve it.”
“The invaders should study the history of Afghanistan from the time of the aggression of Alexander, to the Ganges of the yore and to this very day and should receive lesson from it,” the English version of the statement said.
While public opinion in the US and Britain turns against deployment in Afghanistan, political and military leaders remain committed to eradicating the Taliban, and the US is expected to boost troop numbers in coming months.
Omar said Afghans should “avoid being tricked by the empty bluffs” of Western leaders who reiterate their commitment to Afghanistan.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan calls on the public of the West not to be deceived by the assertions of (President Barack) Obama, who says the war in Afghanistan is a war of necessity,” he said.
“The West does not have to wage this war,” he said, adding that assertions that the war in Afghanistan will keep the West safe from terrorism were “baseless utterances.”
He lambasted as “corrupt” and “tyrannical” the government of President Hamid Karzai, backed by the international community and currently embroiled in controversy over a fraud-tainted August 20 election.
Karzai is ahead in preliminary results, with almost 55 percent of the vote, though hundreds of thousands of ballots may be recounted and could force him into a run-off against his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, on 27.8 percent.
“The rampant corruption in the surrogate Kabul administration, the embezzlement, drug trafficking, the existence of mafia networks, the tyranny and high-handedness of the warlords… are part of the colonial… plans,” he said.
Calling Karzai’s government “a corrupt and stooge administration” Omar said the election was “fraught with fraud and lies” and was “categorically rejected by the people,” a reference to low turnout amid Taliban intimidation.
The Taliban was “wrongly depicted” as opposed to education and women’s rights, he said, making no reference to the repression that kept women covered by burkas, banned from schools, and confined indoors unless accompanied by a male relative during the movement’s five-year regime.
“Our goal is to gain independence… and establish a just Islamic system,” he said.
“We can consider any option that could lead to the achievement of this goal,” he said, adding: “However, this will only be feasible when the country is free from the trampling steps of the invading forces and has gained independence.”
In Washington, Obama issued a statement marking the Eid festivities that did not refer to Omar’s remarks or Afghanistan.
“Even on this festive occasion, Muslims remember those less fortunate, including those impacted by poverty, hunger, conflict, and disease,” Obama said.
–Agencies