Mushtaq Yusufzai adds from Peshawar: The Afghan Taliban on Sunday rejected the report of the London School of Economics.
“The report is a pack of lies aimed at damaging our image among the Muslims supporting mujahideen all over the world,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
He called ‘The News’ from an undisclosed location to record the Taliban reaction to the LSE report. He said it was not the first time the Western powers and organisations had associated Taliban with the ISI.
Zabihullah Mujahid opined that the Western powers led by the US were ready to defame Taliban whenever they accelerate attacks and inflict losses on the occupation forces in Afghanistan.
The report even alleged that ISI officials attend meetings of the Taliban’s supreme council and extend them financial assistance.
The Taliban spokesman said there was no question that people other than senior Afghan Taliban commanders would attend their meetings.
“Our movement is indigenous and has been launched for the liberation of our country from the clutches of the occupying forces,” he said, adding:
“There is no doubt we are receiving financial assistance from kind-hearted Muslims from across the world, but we never got any help from the ISI.”
He argued as to why the Afghan Taliban would expect any help from Pakistan or the ISI when Taliban fighters were arrested in Pakistan whenever they went there for treatment or other personal needs.
Zabihullah Mujahid argued that the Afghan Taliban started their resistance against the US-led occupying forces the day their country was invaded and Pakistan was a key ally of coalition forces in this war.
Also, he said, there was no chance the LSE would have interviewed Afghan Taliban commanders for the research report that appeared on Sunday. “If they are talking about former Taliban ministers, we have categorically stated that they are not part of our movement,” the Taliban spokesman said.
He said the Taliban movement had entered the decisive phase and had forced the US and its allies to offer them talks. “It is our firm belief that the sacrifices of our Mujahideen will bear fruit one day,” he said.
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