Refusing any peace talk with America, a top-ranking Taliban commander has said that his group has waged war against the US-led forces to create an Islamic State in Afghanistan and to bring Sharia law back to the country, a media report said on Monday.
"There is nothing to talk about. This is not a political campaign for policy change or power sharing or cabinet ministries. We are waging jihad to bring Islamic law back to Afghanistan," Mullah Sabir told Newsweek.
The news magazine said it conducted interview at textile shop on Afghanistan-Pakistan border and identified Sabir as one of the highest ranking commanders but said that he did not want his full name to be used.
The refusal to negotiate comes straight from the Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, Sabir was quoted as saying. "The tone of his rejection has been so strong from the first that no one would dare to raise the subject with him."
But Newsweek says Sabir hasn't seen Mullah Omar in years, and he doesn't know of anyone who has. Internet posts released in Mullah Omar's name on Muslim holy days are the only hint that the one-eyed leader is still alive. All the same, Sabir says he and thousands of other Taliban won't stop fighting until they're back in power.
Distrust is spreading in the ranks, Newsweek says, adding that off the battlefield, Taliban fighters wonder aloud what has become of Mullah Omar. Some think he may have been put under house arrestor worseby his second in command and brother-in-law Mullah Baradar.
{{/usCountry}}Distrust is spreading in the ranks, Newsweek says, adding that off the battlefield, Taliban fighters wonder aloud what has become of Mullah Omar. Some think he may have been put under house arrestor worseby his second in command and brother-in-law Mullah Baradar.
{{/usCountry}}"He may have removed himself, or someone may have removed him," says a former Mullah Omar aide. "For the past two years, no one that I know has any hard evidence of where he is or what he's doing."