Kabul: Taliban’s supreme leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has warned foreigners not to interfere in Afghanistan affairs.
State-run Bakhtar News Agency quoted the reclusive leader as saying at a gathering of Islamic clerics in Kabul that Afghanistan “cannot develop without being independent.”
Akhundzada said, “Thank God, we are now an independent country. (Foreigners) should not give us their orders, it is our system, and we have our own decisions.”
In his speech, Akhundzada said, “The success of the Afghan jihad is not only a source of pride for Afghans but also for Muslims all over the world.”
Akhundzada is based in Kandahar, the Taliban’s birthplace and spiritual heartland, is rarely photographed in public, a fact that has fueled rumors over the years that he was sick or possibly dead, according to CNN.
The meeting was not released in the media.
