On May 1, 2020, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan published a statement accusing the Afghan government of "wielding the COVID-19 disease as a weapon of war" against "innocent prisoners" in Afghan jails, thereby seeking to derail the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, on February 29, 2020. A key point of the Doha agreement was that 5,000 Taliban prisoners be released by March 10, 2020. Less than 400 Taliban prisoners had been freed as of May 3.
The statement, the text of which is given below, also accused the U.S. of supporting the Afghan government in its tactics against the Taliban.
"The Kabul Administration Is Holding Thousands Of Prisoners Who Were Arrested By The Americans Because They Resisted Against The Invaders"
"During the course of past 18 years every kind of weapon and tactics has been used against Afghans to break their resolve for freedom, but the Americans and their puppets have failed at achieving anything substantial. From the mother of all bombs, to drones, night raids, massacres and killings of civilians — nothing has worked for enemies of Afghanistan.
"If we look at the modern history, we will find that all over the world, notorious evil dictators, tyrannical rulers and stooges of foreigners have always tried cheap tactics whenever they have failed militarily and politically against those seeking freedom. One of the classic tactics used by the mentioned evil forces is targeting health facilities and those in society which are vulnerable so that people withdraw their support for the freedom fighters.
"Nowadays the shameless anti-peace criminal regime in Kabul is using COVID-19 commonly known as Coronavirus against the innocent prisoners held unlawfully in the jails of the regime. In Afghanistan and under the eyes of American invaders, the Kabul administration is holding thousands of prisoners who were arrested by the Americans because they resisted against the invaders and were struggling for the freedom of their country.
"The innocent prisoners held in the detention centers of Kabul administration are the most vulnerable of all the Afghans suffering under the American invaders and their stooges because their voices have been curbed, freedom taken, physically and mentally tortured and all their rights usurped. As the Coronavirus pandemic grows in Afghanistan it has also spread in the prisons infecting tens of prisoners."
"The Regime In Kabul Is Taking Every Step To Harm The Peace Process [Involving The U.S.-Taliban Agreement] Because It Sees Its Survival In War"
"Videos circulating on social media show a dismal situation of the innocent prisoners in grave danger suffering from the COVID-19 virus with no medical assistance. It is a proof that the regime has deliberately led the infection into the prison to pressurize the mujahideen.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has already warned the regime of grave consequences by holding the heads of the regime accountable for harm caused to the prisoners. The regime in Kabul is taking every step to harm the peace process [involving the U.S.-Taliban agreement] because it sees its survival in war. The regime is composed of corrupt individuals and mafia groups whose vested interests are intertwined with war and destruction of Afghanistan.
"It is high time for the Americans to understand that they have failed in Afghanistan and the time has come for them to put an end to further futile strategies. The entire international community is aware that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is upholding the agreement which it signed in a globally covered event [at Doha, Qatar].
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is releasing the regime prisoners held in the areas governed by the forces of the Islamic Emirate on humanitarian basis to protect them from the Coronavirus pandemic and unite them with their families with dignity but the regime in Kabul on the contrary is putting their lives in grave danger by wielding the COVID-19 disease as a weapon of war."
Source: AlemarahEnglish.com (Afghanistan), May 1, 2020.
