ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban said on Tuesday that reconciliation process with Kabul administration could not be resumed as long as foreign forces remained in Afghanistan and the government did not revoke its security pacts with other countries.

“If the Kabul administration wants to end the war and establish peace in the country, it is possible through ending the occupation and revoking all military and security treaties with the invaders,” Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour said in his message for Eidul Azha.

This was Mullah Mansour’s first Eid message since taking up the leadership of the militant group.

Besides sharing his political stance, the Taliban chief used the message to praise his predecessor and caution against disunity and harming ‘innocent’ people. He also urged his cadres to acquire modern education alongside religious education and sought to allay the concerns of Central Asian countries about his group’s attacks in northern Afghanistan.

Mullah Mansour uses Eid message to caution against disunity in his group

The reconciliation process has remained suspended since the news about former Taliban leader Mullah Omar’s death became public ahead of the second round of talks between Taliban representatives and Afghan officials planned for July 31 in Pakistan.

The process was being facilitated by the Pakistan government. The United States and China were also participating in the talks, whose first round was held on July 7 in Murree.

After visiting the two countries last week, the acting special representative of the United States for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Jarrett Blanc, said that revival of the reconciliation process depended on the Taliban. He said it was a decision for the Taliban to take and that the Afghan government was ready for it.

The end of the Taliban succession dispute after Mullah Omar’s brother Abdul Mannan and son Mullah Yaqoob pledged allegiance to Mullah Mansour had led to hopes that the resumption of the process was in the offing.

Although Mansour did not name Pakistan, he warned against “foreign pressure” for dialogue saying it would not help. Pakistan has sought to pressurise Afghan Taliban to resume the dialogue.

“Any foreign pressure under the pretext of resolving the Afghan problem, is not going to solve the problem but will rather create other problems,” Mansour said.

In a reference to Pakistan’s stated policy of supporting “intra-Afghan dialogue”, the Taliban chief said that such a thing could only happen once the foreign forces had withdrawn from Afghanistan.

“The Islamic Emirate believes that if the country is not under occupation, the problems of the Afghans can be solved through intra-Afghan understanding,” he said.

He dismissed reports about disunity within Taliban as “propaganda stratagems” of the “enemy” --- a reference to the Afghan government. But at the same time Mansour hinted at his unease with some of his comrades.

“We … do not need the company of unscrupulous persons who carry out activities against Sharia and will block their way, God willing,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, a rival Taliban faction issued a separate Eid message, adds Reuters.

The competing messages came days after a group of dissident ‘commanders’ denounced Mansour’s appointment as Taliban chief.

The rival group said that after Mullah Omar’s death “the leadership that was established was unprincipled” and called for a new Shura to choose a new leader. Taliban sources said Mansour’s rivals including battlefield commander Abdul Qayum Zakir were behind the second statement.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd , 2015

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