Taliban vow no revenge in first news conference since seizing power

By Latika BourkeUpdated August 18, 2021 â€" 2.48amfirst published at 1.19am

Taliban officials have fronted the world’s media in Kabul for the first time since their shock seizure of the city, promising they will not take revenge against those who worked or fought with US forces during their 20-year mission in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the organisation had “emancipated” the country and did not want Afghanistan to be the “battlefield of conflict anymore”.

In front of a Taliban flag, Zabihullah Mujahid speaks at his first news conference.Credit:AP

He also vowed to respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law, and said terrorist groups would not use Afghanistan as a base to plot attacks on the West â€" a key demand of the United States, NATO and the international community.

“Everyone is forgiven,” he said.

Mujahid said this extended to thousands of translators and contractors who helped the allied countries and were desperately trying to flee the country.

“All of them have been pardoned, nobody is going to be treated with revenge,” he said.

“In your homes, nobody is going to harm you, nobody is going to knock on your doors, nobody is going to interrogate you.”

It was the first time Mujahid, an elusive figure until now, had shown his face to the world, having spent the past 20 years spreading the group’s message from secret locations as the Taliban fought NATO and Afghan forces.

Mujahid began the media event â€" the group’s first official news conference since seizing power on the weekend â€" with a religious recitation.

Women ‘will have access to education’

Declaring that the Taliban were “not arrogant” despite conquering the country in “a matter of days” following the withdrawal of US troops, Mujahid promised that women would have access to education and be allowed to work, but would be subject to Sharia law.

He also welcomed private media companies continuing to operate in the country, saying it would help the Taliban “improve”. However, Mujahid said their news coverage must not offend or criticise Islamic or Afghan values, meaning it too will be subject to the version of Sharia law that the Taliban adopts as it prepares to transform from a fighting group to a government.

When the Taliban was last in power, women and girls faced execution for working and going to school. At Tuesday’s news conference, the first question was given to a female Al Jazeera journalist.

When asked if women could continue as journalists under Taliban rule, Mujahid said they would need to wait and see what the laws would decree.

The government, which will propose the laws, is still being formed, but the Taliban is at pains to stress that it wants it to be inclusive. The United Nations Security Council has called on the Taliban to ensure that women are given full and meaningful representation.

In a further sign the insurgent group was taking the reins of government, the chief of the organisation’s political office Mullah Baradar â€" tipped by some observers to be Afghanistan’s next leader â€" flew from the Qatari capital of Doha to Kandahar.

Mujahid sought to reassure foreign governments that their embassies would be secure, and appealed for international assistance to help them develop alternative crops to narcotics to end the country’s opium trade.

He said it was the Taliban’s right to fight for Afghanistan’s independence.

“After 20 years of struggle, once again we have emancipated our country and made it independent again, and we have expelled the foreigners,” he said.

“This is a proud moment for the whole nation.”

He said news conferences would be held regularly and repeatedly sought questions from international media.

Since sweeping to power in just over a week following the withdrawal of US troops, the Taliban are attempting to show a more moderate face to the world compared to their previous rule.

They were met with little to no resistance as they reclaimed province after province, and took the capital without any bloodshed on Sunday night.

US faces criticism for withdrawal

US President Joe Biden has come under heavy criticism at home and abroad for the chaotic exit, which resulted in several Afghans falling to their death as they attempted to stow away on the outside of a US Air Force C-17 transport plane.

Biden, who is honouring the withdrawal agreement brokered by former US president Donald Trump with the Taliban, defended his decision, saying the American people should not continue giving their lives for a country that had shown itself to be unwilling to fight for itself.

In Brussels, NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg appeared to defend Biden.

“What we have seen in the last few weeks was a military and political collapse at a speed which had not been anticipated,” he said.

“This failure of Afghan leadership led to the tragedy we are witnessing today.”

About 10,000 military personnel from the 36-member countries were helping train the Afghan army just 12 months ago. That number, as of the weekend, was zero.

“The big question we have to ask in an honest and clear-eyed way is: why didn’t the forces we trained and equipped and supported over so many years, why were they not able to stand up against the Taliban in a stronger and better way than they did?”

Amid heavy criticism from European leaders about the US decision and fallout for NATO, Stoltenberg said that no European or other ally had wanted to step up and fill the United States’ shoes when faced with the prospect of withdrawal.

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Latika Bourke is a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in London.

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