Season’s greetings: Mullah Omar urges insurgents to cut civilian deaths
The Taliban’s reclusive leader Mullah Omar has issued a bellicose Eid statement swiftly denounced by the commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan on Friday as a message of hate from a deranged man.
In his message to the Afghan people ahead of Eidul Fitr, Mullah Omar said insurgents should “employ tactics that do not cause harm to life and property of the common countrymen”.
“The instructions given to you for the protection of civilian losses are, on you, a religious obligation to observe,” the one-eyed reclusive leader said in a seven-page statement released late on Thursday and translated into five languages.
“Any violation readily incurs loss in this world and in the world to come. Therefore, I urge you emphatically to be careful about the civilian losses and take this on yourselves as an explicit responsibility,” he said.
The rare statement by Mullah Omar also claims victories on the battlefield against Nato and defends as tactical the Taliban’s initial contacts, now suspended, with the United States.
General John Allen pilloried the statement as “an unmistakable message of death, hate and hopelessness for the Afghan people”.
Calling Omar a ‘deranged man’ using ‘insane language’, Gen Allen scoffed at his call on Taliban militants to avoid killing civilians, pointing to the deaths of dozens of civilians in a series of suicide and bomb attacks this week.
“Either Omar is lying, or his henchmen are not listening to him, but it is clear that innocent Afghan civilians are paying the price for his corrupt leadership,” Gen Allen said in a statement.
In an apparent move to allay fears among some Taliban factions, Mullah Omar said in his statement that initial talks with the United States “had not meant submission or abandoning our goals”. Instead they had been aimed at initiating an exchange of prisoners, opening a political office and to ‘reach our goals’, he said, noting that the Taliban had suspended the talks earlier this year.
He called the ‘so-called transition’, under which Nato is handing increasing responsibility for the war to Afghan security forces ahead of the exit of some 130,000 foreign troops by the end of 2014, a sign of defeat. And Mullah Omar, said by the Afghan government to be based in neighbouring Pakistan, warned that the war would continue after their departure.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2012.
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I do not agree with comments of Redtiger. Mr.redtiger don't you know the realities of massive killings in Iraq and Afghanistan, although media should be criticized for having it's dump and deaf quality for the brutality of NATO forces against civilian's in Afghanistan and Iraq. what the US-led forces done in guantanamo bay, abu gharib and other sites of brutality in different regions. I salute Mr. Assang for his undoubted brave exposure of U.S to the Whole sphere. Mr. Redtiger your materialistic approach has paralyzed your attitude towards moral realities, I salute the the insurgents who with little approach and force have been panic for the NATO and the US. I have no feelings for the Taliban nor i had been interacted with them, but my sense made me to comment on your point , the media should not be dictated for personnel haves but it should play its role transparently without any hesitation to the for coming consequences Regards: Atta khoso Pakistan.
Just a thought. You need to stop all coverage of Mullah Omar and all activities concerning insurgency and Taliban. You are giving them nothing but free advertising. By covering these issues you and all other media outlets are collectively responsible for all the deaths occurring. I have it on good authority that Mullah Omar and his representatives are and have been and will be negotiating for peace. In the meantime he has stepped up his criminal killing and other activities to try and prove his position of negotiation at the expense of innocent people. Mullah Omar is already deceiving you and everyone else by using all media to say good things and actually increasing the bad things. He has duped the entire media system by using professionals to lie for him to you. This way he can deny all activities he wants. You may not want to believe me but I can tell you he is and has been doing the "one-eyed wink and nod" by telling you one thing and doing another. His and all other terror movements thrive on yours and all other media coverage to get his word out. Either you begin a campaign to silence the reporting or I will personally see to it that you and all other media outlets are blamed for the murders, kidnappings, night letters, intimidations, rapes and all other terror activities along with Mullah Omar. Frankly, I don't care if you publish this comment. I know you have it. I can assure you that when you begin doing the right thing by ensuring you and all other media outlets stop covering these activities I will not claim credit. The credit will all belong to you. This is a test. If you fail the test, I know that you and others are complete supporters of the violence and destruction Mullah Omar and his Thugs are causing in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Thanks, redtiger