President Karzai says Taliban defaming Afghanistan, Islam
Iran Press TV
Thu Sep 5, 2013 6:52AM GMT
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has censured the Taliban militant group for ‘defaming’ Islam and Afghanistan.
Karzai said in a recent statement that the foreign sponsors of the Taliban have ordered the group to attack mosques, religious ceremonies and scholars in Afghanistan to discredit the country and Islam.
The Afghan president also condemned the assassination of religious scholars who have been frequently targeted by the militants.
The statement came after heavily-armed militants gunned down ethnic leader Mowlavi Nur al-Din and his two children in the eastern province on Ghazni on Wednesday.
The Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for the brutal attack, alleging that Nur al-Din was a local police chief.
However, Afghan officials reject the Taliban allegations, saying he was just an ethnic leader.
The US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops.
There was a sharp increase in civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first half of 2013.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report on July 31 that civilian deaths were up 23 percent in the first six months of 2013 compared to the previous year.
The UN report blamed the rise in civilian fatalities on escalated fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces.
DB/HSN
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
