Marking Afghanistan’s Independence Day on Saturday, the Taliban said it wants “healthy relations with regional countries and the world based on Islamic Sharia.”
According to a statement issued by the Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban emphasized the importance of avoiding policies that oppress or harm Afghanistan and its people.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s acting interior minister, meanwhile said at a ceremony marking the 104th anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence from the British, that the international community is guilty of oppressing the people of Afghanistan. “The world must engage with [the Taliban] and end the ongoing oppression of Afghans,” Haqqani said.
However, the acting representative of Afghanistan at the United Nations questioned the significance of commemorating this day given the country’s current crisis and reliance on foreign assistance.
The Taliban’s acting chief minister Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, who also attended the event, said that the international community’s engagement with the Taliban is the only way to maintain security and stability in the region.
“The water issue with Iran has been happily resolved with understanding instead of war. This is an example of our good policy and interaction with the world,” he added.
“We make Afghanistan shine in the political field so that it becomes a rival of the world. We will build Afghanistan’s economy on our own feet so that the country becomes economically self-sufficient,” Kabir said.
He also expressed the Taliban’s goals of elevating Afghanistan’s global standing and strengthening its economy for self-sufficiency. He noted that minor attacks from neighboring countries along the borders have decreased significantly under the Taliban’s rule.
