[Dawn] The Afghan Taliban is denying a report that it receives funding, training and protection from Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency, a US monitoring group said Tuesday.| "No, no, perish the thought!" |
The comment came in reaction to a report for the London School of Economics (LSE) based on interviews with nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan between February and May of this year.
That report claimed the relationship between the ISI and the militants goes far beyond current estimates and that the Pakistani intelligence agency "orchestrates, sustains and strongly influences the movement."
But the Afghan Taliban, according to SITE, said that "no sound mind" would accept that Pakistan, which supports the United States, would back the jihad against the US presence in Afghanistan.
The message from the self-proclaimed Shura leadership in Afghanistan also alleged the report was concocted by the London School of Economics to "protect" American and British interests in the country.