The Afghanistan Taliban has come out in the open to challenge India’s growing military aid to Afghanistan and warned it to stop providing any lethal aid to the already war-torn nation.
The Islamic insurgent group in a statement issued on Sunday said that India is aggravating the plight of Afghanistan by supplying war equipment and aircraft. This aid, according to the Taliban, is used by the Afghan air force to kill the people of the country and cause damage to the infrastructure.
Taliban’s warning comes months after India provided Afghanistan with three Russia-made Mi-25 fighter helicopters to assist fighting insurgents.
Interestingly, the statement by the Taliban comes right ahead of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to New Delhi on 14 September. During this visit, he is expected to seek an increase in India’s military assistance to Afghanistan.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of Taliban, on Sunday said, “We call on India to stop exporting items of killing and destruction to Afghanistan and to stop efforts of prolonging the lifespan of this corrupt regime with its military aid,” in a statement quoted by The News International.
He also cited the example of the recent violence in northern Kunduz to show how Afghan forces have been using these helicopters to propagate hatred in the country.
In the last 15 years, India has provided over $2 billion in economic assistance to Afghanistan.
(Source: The News International)
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