Taliban warns West of 'unequivocal defeat'
Taliban's number-one commander has warned foreign troops in Afghanistan of an imminent 'unequivocal defeat', vowing to turn the country into a graveyard for 'colonial' troops. Weeks ahead of the eighth anniversary of the US-led invasion that ended the radical group's rule in Afghanistan, Mullah Omar advised Western militaries to learn their lessons from history. "The invaders should study the history of Afghanistan from the time of the aggression of Alexander, to the Ganges of the yore and to this very day and should receive lesson from it," AFP quoted the militant leader as saying in a statement on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.
"The more the enemy resorts to increasing forces, the more they will face an unequivocal defeat in Afghanistan," he said referring to 'huge casualties and sagging morale' among NATO and US troops in Afghanistan.
The remarks come as over 350 deaths among foreign troops this year in Afghanistan, mostly British and American nationals, mark a noticeable rise in mortalities from Taliban-linked violence, making 2009 the deadliest year since the invasion of the country on October 7, 2001. Recent surveys indicate more people in the United States and Britain are turning against the deployment of Western troops to Afghanistan. This is while British and US political and military leaders still insist on continued military presence in Afghanistan and beefing up their forces in the coming months. The on the run Taliban leader, who has sent US and its allies on a wild goose chase, warned Afghans not to be 'tricked by the empty bluffs' of Western leaders who reiterate their commitment to the Afghan war. He also dismissed White House claims that the war in Afghanistan was a 'war of necessity' as 'baseless utterances'.
Mullah Omar also lashed out at the Western-backed government of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been challenged by allegations of electoral fraud in the country's August 20 presidential poll. The militant commander called Karzai's government 'a corrupt and stooge administration' and condemned the election results for being 'fraught with fraud and lies' and lacking popular support.
MRS/SS/MMA
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