TALIBAN SAYS DO NOT WANT TO FIGHT INSIDE AFGHAN CITIES

Tue 13 July 2021:

The Taliban does not want to engage in fighting inside Afghanistan’s cities, a senior leader of the group has said, as thousands of families flee their homes, fearful of living under their rule.

“Now that the fighting from mountains and deserts has reached the doors of the cities, Mujahiddin don’t want fighting inside the city,” Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a message tweeted by a Taliban spokesman on Tuesday.

“It is better … to use any possible channel to get in touch with our invitation and guidance commission, reach a logical agreement to prevent their cities from getting damaged,” said Muttaqi, head of a commission that oversees people surrendering to the group.

In a separate statement, the armed group said Turkey’s decision to provide security to Kabul airport when the United States-led forces leave the country was “reprehensible”.

“The decision … is ill-advised, a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and against our national interests,” the group said, days after Turkey agreed with Washington to provide security to protect the airport.

Meanwhile, Taliban advances in the last 15 days have driven more than 5,600 families from their homes, most of them in the northern areas of the country, according to the government’s refugees and repatriations ministry.

The region is a traditional stronghold of US-allied warlords and dominated by ethnic minorities.

A February 2020 agreement the Taliban signed with the US reportedly prevents the fighters from capturing provincial capitals, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Yet two – Kandahar in the south and Badghis in the north – are under siege.

In the capital, Kabul, where many fear an eventual Taliban assault, a rocket defence system has been installed, the Afghan interior ministry said over the weekend.

———————————————————————————————————————-

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent