KABUL, Feb 11: The reclusive leader of the Taliban said on Monday the Islamic militia is not a threat to other countries and he called on citizens of Nato nations to pressure their governments to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Mullah Omar also said the US military has failed in Afghanistan and that is why the Pentagon is pressuring other Nato countries to send more troops, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid quoted Omar as saying.

“This is our right to defend our country. We are not a threat to other countries. But we have to use our rights when our country is occupied by foreign forces,” Mujahid quoted Omar as saying. “We want the people of other countries to pressure their governments not to send troops to Afghanistan.”

In southern Afghanistan, meanwhile, the governor of Kandahar province, the Taliban’s former stronghold, escaped an apparent assassination attempt on Monday after a bomb exploded by his vehicle convoy.—AP