‘Only United Nations Can Expel Invaders’

Taliban Hit Back at Biden for Suggesting Afghans Lack Unity

Date: 21 January 2022 - 21:57

News ID: ۹۹۱۰۲

KABUL (Anadolu/AFP) – Only united nations can expel invaders and bring down powerful empires, the interim Taliban government said on Friday, rebuffing U.S. President Joe Biden’s assertions about divisions among Afghans.
“Discord is an external phenomenon instigated by foreign invaders for their survival, however, Afghans defeated them with their shared Islamic beliefs, homeland and celebrated history, and are now taking strong leaps towards becoming an equal nation,” Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the interim Afghan Foreign Ministry, wrote on Twitter.
The statement came hours after Biden’s White House news conference, where he said the U.S. exited Afghanistan because it was not possible to “unify Afghanistan under one single government.”
“It’s been the graveyard of empires for a solid reason: It is not susceptible to unity,” Biden said.
Balkhi contended that the U.S. president’s comment on Afghanistan being the “graveyard of empires” was “itself an admission of Afghan unity.”
He said Afghans may not have been completely united when under foreign occupation, but a majority “firmly stayed united in their lawful struggle against invaders.”
“Not divided, but only ‘united’ nations cause the fall of invaders and great empires,” said Balkhi.
After the withdrawal of foreign forces, the Taliban “with limited resources and in a short period, ensured overall security, established a central government, and united the Afghan nation,” he added.
The Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan last summer as international troops withdrew after a two-decade occupation.
The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since August. International aid came to a sudden halt and the United States has frozen $9.5 billion (8.4 billion euros) in assets in the Afghan central bank.
The Taliban will hold talks with Western officials in Oslo next week on human rights and humanitarian aid in their first official visit to the West since returning to power, the Norwegian and Taliban governments said Friday.
The visit from Sunday to Tuesday will see meetings with “Norwegian authorities and officials from a number of allied countries”, including Britain, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy and the United States, it said.
“We are extremely concerned about the grave situation in Afghanistan, where millions of people are facing a full-blown humanitarian disaster,” said Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt.