MPs condemn Taliban’s offensive ‘Al Khandaq’

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Meshrano Jirga members on Sunday criticized what the Taliban call their spring offensive “Al Khandaq” which the upper house members termed “as a war against Islam and Muslims” and urged the ulema council to condemn it strongly.

Two days back, the Taliban announced the launch of their spring offensive codenamed Al Khandaq.

The movement’s military commission has planned the annual operations, a Taliban statement said on Wednesday. The rebels have so far launched many attacks as part of the offensive.

The Meshrano Jirga on Sunday discussed the issue. Senator Gulalai Akbari from northeastern Badakhshan province said the Taliban were misusing the name of ‘Ghazwah al-Khandaq’, a 30-day-long siege of Yathrib (now Medina) by Arab and Jewish tribes in the seventh century. She said the Taliban were using the name of ghazwah which was against infidels while the Taliban were currently fighting against Muslims.

He urged the Afghanistan Ulema Council not to allow Taliban militants to carry their destructive activities under the name “Al Khandaq.”

Faisal Sami, another senator from northern Baghlan province, expressed similar views and urged security forces to prevent militants from reaching their naferious designs.

First Senate chairman Mohammad Alam Ezedyar, who chaired the session, said the Taliban should accept the golden opportunity of joining the peace process.

He believed the rebels would not appear for peace talks until they were militarily defeated.