We have right to raise voice for Muslims: Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Taliban spokesman for their political office in Qatar Sohail Shaheen says they have the right to raise voice for Muslims anywhere, including in Kashmir.

In a Zoom interview with BBC Urdu, Shaheen said the Taliban did not have a policy to raise arms against any country. "We have this right, being Muslims, to raise our voice for Muslims in Kashmir, India, and any other country," he said.

According to Shaheen, "We will raise our voice and say that the Muslims are your own people, your own citizens. They are entitled to equal rights under your laws." To a question about the Haqqani Network, the spokesperson said there was "no such group" and they were "a part of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".

On Sunday, in an interview with Geo News on programme "Naya Pakistan", Shaheen said Washington will "have no right to attack" Afghanistan after August 31. The United States had launched a drone strike against a Daesh attack "planner" in eastern Afghanistan, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians, according to Reuters.

Responding to a question if the US had carried out the drone strike with the Taliban’s consent, Shaheen said the Taliban-led government will stop any such attack in Afghanistan after August 31. Earlier, on August 19, Shaheen, in an interview with China's state CGTN television, said China could contribute to the development of Afghanistan in the future.