[Iran Press TV Latest] Following reports that the UK supports peace with the Taliban, a former member of the militant group says British forces have paid and trained the militants in southern Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi told the benawa news website that the British forces have trained Taliban militants in Helmand for years.
| If, indeed, the Brits were training Talibs, what exactly were they training them to do? To be better militants, or to be policemen and farmers? There's no nefarious purpose in the latter... |
Hanafi claims Taliban militant were paid USD 300 per month by the British.
He also claimed that Taliban leader Mullah Omar is being kept in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
| Also by the British, no doubt. |
Hanafi was the governor of central Urozgan Province under the Taliban regime.
| What is the verbose gentleman doing now for employment? |
The developments come as senior officials in the UK have floated the idea of making peace with the Taliban -- the militant group whose uprooting was one of the main objectives of the 2001 US-led invasion.
Nine years later, Afghanistan remains unstable and civilians continue to pay the price. |