Taliban Threatens To Respond If Troops Withdrawal Deadline Missed

The Taliban say they will retaliate if all foreign forces do not complete their withdrawal by the deadline.

Speaking to the BBC, Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, said: “no foreign troops, including military contractors, should remain in the country once the withdrawal process is complete.”

“If they leave their forces behind in violation of the Doha agreement, then it will be up to our leadership to decide how we move forward, we will respond and the final decision will be ours,” he said.

It should be noted that this statement by the Taliban has come after these media reports that about one thousand American troops are likely to be in Afghanistan to protect the diplomatic mission and Kabul International Airport.

“Diplomats, NGOs and other foreigners will not be targeted, so there is no need for any security force in the country,” Shaheen said.

“We are against foreign military forces but not against diplomats, NGOs, embassies and those who work in them because they are needed by our people, we will not be a threat to them,” he said.

A spokesman for the Taliban’s political office called the withdrawal of foreign troops from Bagram Airbase, the largest US military base in Afghanistan, a “historic moment.”

It may be recalled that three days ago, US forces handed over Bagram Airbase to the Afghan government under an agreement with the Taliban.

A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said all NATO members and US troops had left Bagram Airbase.

The expulsion of foreign rumours from Bagram Airbase, north of Kabul, has paved the way for Taliban fighters to intensify their occupation of more areas.

The date for the final withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan was set for September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but it did not reduce clashes between militants and Afghan government forces.

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