Pakistan aiding Taleban offensive: Masood<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD (Agencies): Afghan opposition military chief Ahmad
\nShah Masood vowed to fight on despite setbacks and accused
\nPakistan of backing the Taleban's offensive in an interview
\npublished here Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"The Taleban with the support of Pakistan and troops of Osama
\nbin Laden have launched the heaviest offensive yet,\" Masood told
\nThe Nation daily.<\/p>\n
Masood, interviewed in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, also
\ncalled on the international community to step up efforts for
\npeace in war-torn Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The Taleban Islamic militia's attacks are centered on the
\nnortheast of Afghanistan, close to the Tajikistan border. Osama
\nis wanted by the United States for the bombings of two of its
\nembassies in East Africa in 1998, in which 224 people were
\nkilled.<\/p>\n
\"The current resistance in Afghanistan needs the support of
\nthe international community to stop the Pakistani intervention,\"
\nMasood said.<\/p>\n
\"Once the intervention stops I strongly believe the ground
\nwill be restored for the restoration of peace.\"<\/p>\n
Pakistan has always denied giving military support to the
\nTaleban militia, saying it backs the formation of a broad-based
\ngovernment in Afghanistan representing all segments of society.<\/p>\n
Masood said he would not retreat into Tajikistan and would
\nhold the present frontline, on the border separating Takhar and
\nBadakhshan provinces.<\/p>\n
His aides told The Nation they would counter-attack in the
\nwinter when the Islamic militia \"are more vulnerable.\"<\/p>\n
Masood urged the Pakistani people to oppose the policy being
\npursued by the regime of military ruler General Pervez Musharraf
\nin Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
\"The policy ... is neither in the interest of Pakistan, nor
\nAfghanistan, nor the interests of Islam,\" he said, warning it
\nwould have \"bad consequences\" for the region.<\/p>\n
The Taleban militia has made significant advances since
\nfighting erupted once more in July, capturing several key areas,
\nincluding Taloqan, a strategic opposition base and capital of
\nTakhar on Sept. 6.<\/p>\n
The closeness of the fighting to the Tajikistan border has
\nraised fears that it could spill over into neighboring Central
\nAsian states and destabilize the region.<\/p>\n
Russia last week sent a special envoy, Sergei Yastrzhembsky,
\nto Islamabad to meet Musharraf and underline Moscow's concerns.<\/p>\n
Moscow has expressed worries that a recent string of Taleban
\nvictories in northern Afghanistan could embolden Islamic
\nmilitants in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia,
\nparticularly in Tajikistan, where the pro-Moscow government is
\nunder attack by rebels wanting an Islamic state.<\/p>\n
Last month Russia asked Pakistan, which is one of only three
\ncountries to recognize the Taleban, to use its influence to get
\nfive training camps in Afghanistan shut down.<\/p>\n
Moscow claimed these camps were being used to train Islamic
\nterrorist to wage war against Russian troops in Tajikistan and in
\nChechnya, where rebels there want an independent state.<\/p>\n
Russia currently has 25,000 troops deployed in Tajikistan on
\nthe border with Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The Taleban foreign minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said his
\nimpoverished country hasn't the resources or the desire to
\ninterfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors.<\/p>\n
\"It is wrong to blame Afghanistan for the internal problems of
\nthe Central Asian states,\" Muttawakil told a news conference in
\nthe Afghan capital on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"The Russian propaganda that the Taleban threatens regional
\npeace and stability surprises us,\" he said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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