Taliban to Target Daesh in Afghanistan: Spokesman
KABUL (Tasnim) – Afghan Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected some media reports that the group is cooperating with the central government in the fight against the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terror group but at the same time said the Taliban is resolved to target Daesh.
In an exclusive interview with the Tasnim News Agency, Mujahid dismissed as untrue comments by some local officials in Nangarhar Province that the Taliban and the Afghan government have agreed to cooperate against Daesh, saying that the Taliban has no agreement with the government in its military operations.
He further rejected recent remarks by Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of National Defense Major General Tariq Shah Bahrami who had said that government forces have forced Daesh and the Taliban to withdraw from Tora Bora.
The Taliban will not allow the Kabul government’s forces to advance in the areas controlled by the group, the spokesman said.
He further pointed to the presence of some Daesh terrorists in Tora Bora and said that the Taliban will clean the area from Daesh elements in the near future.
Speaking to Tasnim in August 2016, Mujahid had pledged the “Islamic Emirate’s” (Taliban’s) ceaseless fight against Daesh “in cooperation with the Afghan nation”.
The “Islamic Emirate” has launched a campaign against occupation across Afghanistan, Mujahid said at the time, stressing that the Taliban is aware of the threat of Daesh and “in cooperation with the nation, has prevented the terrorist group from gaining a foothold in Afghanistan.”
The presence of Daesh forces in Afghanistan is limited to a small area in the east and they are living in a dire situation near the border, the spokesman said, adding that most of their members are non-Afghans and “have nothing to do with the Afghan people.”
No Daesh fighters are present in other areas of Afghanistan, and the Taliban will not allow such presence, he stressed.