The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In a statement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban organization) has rejected media reports that Russia paid the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. It also argued that the Taliban raised the banner of jihad when America was the sole superpower after the end of the Cold War.
Following are excerpts from the statement:
"[The] fact of the matter remains that the past nineteen-year jihad of our believing nation was a miraculous struggle enriched with the sense of freedom, independence and self-determination which has few peers in world history. This jihad of our believing people is not some proxy war from the Cold War era which might have ties to an eastern or western international bloc. Our nation raised the banner of jihad against occupation when the world was gripped by a unipolar order; murmurs were abound about history ending [as argued by academician Francis Fukuyama]; and the courage of even verbally or morally supporting the just struggle of our believing people was sapped from all.
"However, it was only the divine support of the Lord Almighty which blessed our people with unparalleled perseverance and determination as they rose to challenge the world's premier war machine with homemade explosives and in doing so, not only managed to keep alive their just struggle with old rifles, expired ammunition and insignificant resources but also crossed many stages of success along the way.
"This is a fact known and accepted by both friend and foe. Till this date no evidence has been found to show that a foreign country has given the Islamic Emirate any lethal aid. A proof of this claim is that if one was to search for the most effective weapon of the mujahideen of [the] Islamic Emirate, it would show the image of a water container IED or in other words, homemade explosive device.
"Independence and self-reliance to such a degree is an honor which very few liberation movements have been blessed with in the history of humanity, but all praise belongs to Allah, this great honor is what He... [Prophet Muhammad] has bestowed upon our proud people and sincere mujahideen. Now that some western media outlets are out to justify their own failures by attributing the jihadi accomplishments and glory of the Islamic Emirate to other parties by making allegations about support from Russia or other countries, all are fabrications that can neither be backed with evidence nor are they acceptable to anyone with a sound mind or information.
"The Islamic Emirate openly challenges all parties that if they have anything that links our just struggle to foreign sides or brings into question its independence, then let them bring forth their proof. Beyond this we shall not allow anyone to stain this proud historical chapter of our free people with lies. The fact is that our struggle is in such a sphere of nobility that low-minded people cannot even come to perceive it. This struggle is akin to the sun which cannot be looked at by the envious enemy; hence they seek to cool their hatred with such ill and false propaganda."
Source: AlemarahEnglish.com (Afghanistan), June 29, 2020. The original English of the quoted text has been lightly edited for standardization and clarity.
