Mullah Omar: "U.S. Should Withdraw Now Or Meet The Same Fate As The Soviets"

(Taliban)

The Taliban's leader Mullah Mohammed Omar warned that if the U.S. does not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, it would meet the same fate as the former Soviet Union. "Should you decide to leave our soil, we will give you a chance for a face-saving withdrawal of your forces and return to our former non-hostile position that posed no threat to any country in the world," said the written statement supposedly written by Mullah Omar and featured in the 27th issue of al Somood, Taliban's online monthly magazine. "But if you insist on occupying our land, you too will be defeated under the strikes of the Afghans around the world, just like the former Soviet Union," he added. He also warned the militants in Afghanistan against what he claimed was an American plan to set enmity between them "similar to that they applied in Iraq."

The 56-page magazine also included an interview with Taliban field commander in Ghur province, Mullavi Abdel Hakim. Abdel Hakim said that his men launched between eight and 12 attacks on coalition forces and claimed that 18 NATO troops and 68 Afghan soldiers have been killed at the hand of the Taliban over the past few months. He also talked about funding and explained how the Taliban's central command allocates budgets to each department according to its location and size.

The magazine also included a number of other articles that dealt with the change in the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, the surge planned for the country, the social disruptions caused by the occupation and claimed the CIA was involved in the drugs cultivation business in Afghanistan.