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This article is part of a Fox News Digital series examining the impact of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan a year ago this week.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has blamed the West for the humanitarian crisis that hit Afghanistan following last year’s Taliban takeover.
“Our hands are tied,” Shaheen told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “We are facing sanctions and embargoes – these countries, including the United States, have funded projects here in the country, and some of those projects have been completed, about 95% It’s more than that, and it’s also one of the causes of increased poverty in the country, as we stopped funding those projects.”
“So we have problems, but many of those problems are inherited from the past and partly because of the international community,” he lamented, adding that sanctions against countries also “created an economic situation.” said.
Shaheen spoke on a number of topics regarding the state of Afghanistan after the Taliban took control following the withdrawal of US troops. This includes the lingering humanitarian crisis gripping Afghanistan and security concerns after the United States discovered al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al. Zawali from Kabul.
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Earlier this month, the US killed al-Zawari in a “successful” counterterrorism operation. Shaheen said there was an ongoing investigation into the killing of al-Zawari, and that the results of that investigation would be known at the appropriate time. said it does not host
“We gave a clear message to all groups and people that Afghanistan has no place to use it against other countries. That’s the policy,” he said, but as to whether terrorists are hiding in the country without the Taliban’s knowledge, “it’s because the government of the country It does not mean that I am in line with it or agree with it.
Shaheen blamed the United States for the deterioration of relations between the two countries after 9/11 and said Afghanistan condemned the attack and offered to “cooperate” with the investigation before the United States attacked. Osama bin Laden planned the attack while he was taking refuge in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, according to the FBI. I did.
However, relations with other countries remain volatile. Shaheen stressed the need for “normal relations” with other countries to achieve better economic security and “normalize” the situation in Afghanistan, but noted China’s response to Muslim Uyghurs. When pressed, Shaheen simply said, “It’s an internal matter.”
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“We want China to treat all citizens equally,” he said, adding that the Taliban “will not interfere in the internal affairs of any country.”
The Taliban want to convey an image of open cooperation with the international community to bring much-needed aid to the struggling Afghan economy. The US froze Al-Zawari’s $7 billion in assets in the country after his death, ending talks on a possible release of the funds.
Shaheen argued that the US should return the money to the “Afghan people” and said there was no “reasonable justification” for freezing the money.
“They froze people’s property,” Shaheen said. “Again, I want this property and this money to be unfrozen because without it the Bank of Afghanistan cannot function and operate normally and the normal life of the Afghan people. because it is necessary for the activity.
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Shaheen said the Taliban do not receive “direct” funding from the US government, but they do receive millions of dollars in aid through the United Nations and humanitarian agencies. While some critics fear that funds remitted to Afghanistan and the Taliban will flow to terrorist groups, al-Zawari said their “commitment” to the Taliban not breeding terrorism in their country He claimed to support
That commitment includes a renewed denial of terrorism in the country.
“We gave a clear message to all groups and people that Afghanistan has no place to use it against other countries.” We’re looking into it, and if we find it, we won’t allow it, that’s our policy.”
He praised Afghanistan’s ability to defeat “empires and superpowers” from Britain to the United States, calling it “successful” and “facing resistance from the Afghan people”.
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Some of them are taking weapons and equipment left behind in the wake of the US withdrawal and using them to strengthen the Taliban forces “to protect our people and our borders.”
“We keep them,” Shaheen says bluntly, referring to the current equipment as “an asset of the people of Afghanistan.”