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Taliban warn Turkey against extending troop presence in Afghanistan amid US pullout
[France24] The Taliban on Tuesday warned Turkey against extending its troop presence in Afghanistan when US-led forces leave the country, insisting the decision was "reprehensible"."The decision... is ill-advised, a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and against our national interests," the group said in a statement, days after Ankara agreed with Washington to provide security for Kabul airport when foreign forces leave next month. "We consider stay of foreign forces in our homeland by any country under whatever pretext as occupation," the Taliban said. As foreign forces wind up their withdrawal -- due to be completed by August 31 -- the situation on the ground is changing rapidly. The insurgents have swept through much of northern Afghanistan in recent weeks, and the government now holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be reinforced and resupplied by air. On Tuesday, the head of a Taliban commission that oversees government forces who surrender to the insurgents urged the residents of cities to reach out to them. "Now that the fighting from mountains and deserts has reached the doors of the cities, Mujahiddin don’t want fighting inside the city," Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a message tweeted by a Taliban spokesman, using another term for the group. "It is better... to use any possible channel to get in touch with our invitation and guidance commission," he said, adding this would "prevent their cities from getting damaged". The strategy is one well-worn by the Taliban, particularly during their first rise to power in the 1990s, cutting off towns and district centres and getting elders to negotiate a surrender. Posted by: Besoeker 2021-07-13 |
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