Taliban warn US against 'interference' in Afghan affairs

The Taliban have issued a “warning” against “US interference” in Afghanistan as the militants continue their push in several provinces amid a vow by Afghan officials that “resistance” will persist.

"We are warning against the US interference in Afghanistan," said the spokesperson for the Taliban Political Office on Sunday as quoted in a report by

Al Jazeera news network, emphasizing that no intra-Afghan ceasefire agreement had been reached.

The unidentified Taliban official further accused the government in Kabul of escalating current tensions across the country by launching military operations in several provinces in an effort to ward off massive onslaughts by the militant group.

The remarks came a day after American B-52 bombers and C-130 Specter gunships flew into Afghanistan from an airbase in Qatar and conducted airstrikes against Taliban positions around key Afghan cities of Kandahar, Herat and Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province to hinder their advances in the strategic cities.

Citing “American defense sources,” the UK-based daily The Times reported that the US has “every intention” to continue with the airstrikes following the total withdrawal of its military forces from Afghanistan by August 31.

The daily also underlined that the Afghan air force still remains heavily reliant on US-supplied aircraft, which are now left without spare parts and trained technicians following the departure of US contractors from the country.

While there has been no confirmation of the airstrikes by the Taliban militants, Afghan Defense Ministry Spokesman Fawad Aman declared in a Twitter message on Saturday that the US B-52 bombers carried out airstrikes on the militants in the capital of the northern Jawzjan Province, insisting that they inflicted significant damage on the insurgents.

Despite the bombing, however, the Taliban have continued their military advances on multiple fronts, overrunning a number of provincial capitals and aggressively pushing back the demoralized Afghan forces.

ME