Three years after U.S.-led forces ousted their leaders from power, hundreds of Taliban militants in Afghanistan are ready to lay down their arms after talks between President Hamid Karzai’s government and local commanders, a local official said yesterday.
Karzai and U.S. backers are hoping to coax lower-level Taliban fighters back to normal life, which they hope would isolate senior commanders and al Qaeda leaders.
“We have more than hundreds of Taliban who want to return to their normal lives,” said provincial governor Assadullah Wafa.
In return, tribal chiefs and local officials involved want the U.S. ambassador in Kabul to urge the 18,000 American troops in the country not to harass Taliban members who quit the insurgency, Wafa said.
An official said only those Taliban fighters who had not committed any crimes would be eligible for amnesty.
“Those Taliban whose hands are not stained in blood are welcome,” said Karzai aide Khaliq Ahmad, adding that only about 100 fighters qualified for the reprieve.
Senior Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah dismissed the claims, saying reports of fighters negotiating with the Afghan and U.S. governments were propaganda.
“This is a part of their strategy . . . to spread rumors and try to divide and weaken their enemy,” he said. “But we will continue our struggle till the time when there is not a single foreign soldier on Afghan soil.” With Post Wire Services (p. 4 Metro)