Even though the majority of the Afghan people have rejected the political agenda of the Taleban, there has been an increase in its activities over the past one year or so. Former Afghan foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah told The Peninsula yesterday: "The Taleban agenda has been rejected but at the same time they are getting support in certain parts of the country. They are doing this by carrying out attacks on civilians and through assassinations." Abdullah is here attending the 2007 US-Islamic World Forum which is being held at the Ritz-Carlton. The seminar concludes today. The former minister called for continuing international efforts to help with the situation in his country. "There are a lot of positive developments but security is still a challenge. Security is related to Al Qaeda and the Taleban. Millions of refugees have returned back to the country and life has changed," he said.
Hr did say the militant groups were continuing to use Pakistan as a launch-pad for attacks across the border. "The role of Pakistan is the key to the issue. However, they are also trying to fight the militants and I hope they will extend those efforts," said Abdullah.
Stating that the country was going through a "challenging time", he said Afghans were trying their best to get out of the ashes of 25 years' of war and destruction. "The support of the international community is needed," he said. According to the diplomat, President Hamid Karzai was doing his best to tackle the various problems besetting Afghanistan.
As for the country's continuing opium production, he said that cultivation of the crop was partly related to terrorism. "This is the second-biggest challenge we are facing." Income from opium sales is widely believed to fund militant groups with the money used to acquire weapons. According to Abdullah, the reason that opium was such a cash crop was because of there being such a high demand in international markets, primarily for heroin.