KABUL – The Taliban warned the United States Thursday it would face thesame fate as the Soviet Union in the 1980s if it did not leave Afghanistan,as Washington considers slashing troop numbers.
In a taunting message sent on the 39th anniversary of the Soviet invasionof the war-torn country, the Taliban said US forces faced “humiliation” andcould “learn a great deal” from the experience of their Cold War foe.
The Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, ending a decade-longoccupation and precipitating a bloody civil war and the emergence of theTaliban.
“Take heed from the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan and abandon thoughts oftesting the mettle of the already proven Afghans,” Taliban spokesmanZabiullah Mujahid said in a statement in English, Dari and Pashto.
Mujahid said any future relations between the Taliban and the United Statesshould be based on “sound diplomatic and economic principles” rather thanconflict.
The Taliban have not formally responded to the news that Trump had decidedto withdraw roughly half of the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan.
But a senior commander told AFP that the group was “more than happy”. TheTaliban have long insisted on the withdrawal of foreign troops as acondition for engaging in peace talks.
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The White House has so far not confirmed the widely-publicised move thatleft foreign diplomats and Afghan officials in Kabul stunned and dismayed.
It came last week as US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Talibanin Abu Dhabi, part of efforts to bring the militants to the negotiatingtable with Kabul.
That was the latest in a series of meetings between US officials andrepresentatives of the Talian that began in the summer.
There are fears Trump´s decision could undermine Khalilzad´s negotiatingposition, embolden the Taliban, and further erode morale among Afghanforces, which are suffering record losses. APP/AFP
