Taliban backed by LeT, Pakistan-based terror outfits, says Afghan Foreign Ministry

In a major allegation, Afghanistan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar on Tuesday said that the Taliban colluded with regional terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other Pakistan-based terror groups to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister was speaking at a meeting with ambassadors and representatives of neighbouring countries. The representatives of regional countries and the United Nations in return expressed their support for an immediate cessation of violence and strengthening the peace process.

With LeT, Foreign Minister Atmar named several other terrorist organizations and claimed that the Taliban is backed by these groups. 

"Minister Atmar noted that the Taliban attacks were carried out in direct collusion with more than 10,000 regional terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ansarullah, Jundallah, al-Qaeda, East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)," Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Atmar further provided data on the amount of destruction that Afghanistan went through- a massacre of more than 100 people in Spin Boldak, forced marriages, destruction of more than 300 public infrastructures, suspension of services in Taliban-controlled areas, killing of more than 3,000 people, displacement of more than 300,000, and disruption order and provision of services in half of the country's districts. Currently, 18 million people face dire humanitarian situations. 

Attack on Herat and the UNAMA office

While specifically mentioning the attack on Herat and the UNAMA office, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons said that the Afghanistan situation requires utmost attention as the Taliban's actions do not reflect commitments. On July 31, Taliban terrorists had launched an attack on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office at Guzara district in Herat province, a day after they propelled a major offensive attack at the same facility. Recently, Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh had said that the terrorist outfit has 'no intention to engage in meaningful negotiations'. 

In his concluding remarks, Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar put forward necessary information on six main subjects:

•  The security situation
• The presence of foreign fighters alongside the Taliban
• The dire humanitarian condition
• The Taliban's widespread crimes and human rights violations
• The government's new security plan
• Main areas of cooperation with the international community

(Inputs from ANI)