‘Time for attacks is over… engage through diplomacy’: Taliban to Nato

Time for attacks in Afghanistan is over, the Taliban said, asking the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) to engage with the south Asian nation through diplomacy.

The statement comes almost a week after Nato chief Jeans Stoltenberg said that the allies need to stay vigilant about the escalating situation in Afghanistan and “be ready to strike and monitor closely any attempts to reconstitute international terrorist groups in Afghanistan, aiming at us”.

“The Nato Secretary-General, for a while, may feel his pain and talk about their failures, but they should know that the time for attacks is over,” said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in an interview with local media. “It was proven twenty years ago that these actions did not work and should be dealt with through diplomacy,” Mujahid added.

The Taliban officials also said that the group, designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and now ruling over Afghanistan, will never allow the country to be used as a centre for proxy wars between the world powers.

In the interview, Mujahid also spoke against the interference by other countries in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and it “will not accept it.” “I have to say 100 per cent that we do not want anyone to interfere, including Pakistan,” he said, adding, “We are an independent country. We do not accept these interventions. Pakistan is a separate country. We do not want to interfere in their affairs and they cannot interfere (in Afghanistan’s affairs).”

On the economic crisis, Mujahid said that talks are on with other regional countries including Uzbekistan for trade support. A promising deal was reached with Iran last week on exports of fuel and food as well as rail and border security, among other issues, the spokesperson also informed at the interview.

Taliban took over Afghanistan in a military offensive in the aftermath of troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the United States and its other Nato allies. The chaotic exit led to a major humanitarian crisis for Afghanistan as it brought the country back to 1991 when the group was ousted by the US troops.