Omar tells Taliban to stand and fight

Published November 14, 2001

ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar on Tuesday ordered his troops to stand and fight after opposition forces marched into Kabul, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.

“I order you to obey your commanders completely. Do not move here and there ... Regroup yourselves. Put up resistance and fight,” the Taliban’s spiritual leader said in a radio address from his base in Kandahar about 4:30pm (1200 GMT).

The Pakistan-based AIP said Mulla Omar had assured his followers in the address on the Taliban wireless frequencies that he was still in Kandahar despite reports he had fled.

“Do not listen to the propaganda by opposition media. I am in Kandahar and have not gone anywhere. This is a fight for Islam,” he said.

“Those who leave their positions are like chickens with their heads cut off which will eventually die and fall in a ditch,” Mulla Omar said.—AFP

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