KABUL: The Taliban are calling on Afghans to drive American forces out of their country, just like they say the USSR was defeated 25 years ago today.

In a statement on Saturday, the 25th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the USSR's forces had killed innocent people and “destroyed our country,” but that “all our nation stood against them and were able to defeat them.”

Ahmadi said that instead of taking that as a lesson, Americans invaded – making them “the same as yesterday's Soviets.”

He urged Afghans to “deal with today's invaders as they dealt with yesterday's invaders,” adding that “there is no difference between our jihad of yesterday and today.”

Nato-led combat forces are due to withdraw from Afghanistan at the end of 2014.