No peace until foreign troops leave Afghanistan: Taliban chief
Kabul
The Taliban's new leader told Kabul yesterday it must cancel a security deal with the United States and expel all foreign troops if it wants peace.
Mullah Mansour, who formally took charge after the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar was confirmed in July, made the demand in a message marking the Muslim festival of Eid ul Adha.
"If the Kabul administration wants to end the war and establish peace in the country, it is possible through ending the occupation and revoking all military and security treaties with the invaders," Mansour said.
Washington and Kabul signed a deal in September last year allowing around 13,000 foreign troops, including 10,000 US soldiers, to stay on after NATO's combat mission ended in December 2014.
The residual force is not engaged in day-to-day fighting with the Taliban but focuses instead on training, support and counter-terrorism operations.
"The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) believes if the country is not under occupation, the problem of the Afghans can be resolved through intra-Afghan understanding," Mansour said in the message posted in English on the Taliban's website.
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