Karzai alleges 'foreign terrorists' have entered Afghanistan, invites Taliban for peace process

Afghan president asks Taliban to stop attacks, join peace process.

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai called upon Taliban leaders on Monday to stop the war on Afghans and not pave the way for the arrival of “foreign terrorists” in Afghanistan.

“I want the Taliban to join the peace process and live with honour with their brothers and sisters,” Karzai said after offering Eid prayers in Kabul, according to his office.

Karzai’s remarks came few days after the Taliban chief Mullah Omar claimed in his Eid message that his fighters are “witness to consecutive victories and achievements on the ground of Jihad.”

“Vital centers of the enemy have come under successful attacks in cities. Writ and administration of the Islamic Emirate has become stronger comparatively,” claimed the Taliban leader, whose whereabouts have been unknown since the US military dislodged the Taliban government in late 2001.

Taliban have intensified their attacks in recent weeks, including two attacks on the Kabul international airport, after they launched their annual “spring offensive” in May.

Further, Mullah Omar says the military situation is in favour of the Taliban and the “blanket of invasion has rolled back from vast areas.”

Karzai, who will step down in weeks after ruling for nearly 13 years, alleged that “foreign terrorists” have entered Afghanistan. He did not name any country, however, his security officials have frequently pointed fingers at Pakistan.

The Afghan president said that presidential elections were held peacefully as hundreds of thousands of people took part in the election campaign. However, attacks began in Afghanistan as the vote count started.

“The attacks on Afghanistan were very severe. We have not seen such deadly attacks over the past 14 years as we have observed in two months,” the Afghan President said.

“Our security organs routinely submit reports that a large number of foreign terrorists have sneaked into Afghanistan and carry out attacks on Afghans,” the outgoing president said.

“Our security and defence forces defend their soil. We have sacrificed lives of many of our security forces and the people,” he added.

Election controversy

Karzai also talked about the election controversy and said millions of Afghans voted and are waiting for an announcement of the results.

Afghanistan is in the grip of political crisis as Dr Abdullah Abdullah rejected preliminary results of the presidential elections runoff over alleged vote fraud.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry brokered a deal this month on the audit of nearly eight million votes. However, the process still faces some problems that is causing a further delay in the final results.