Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq has heaped praise on the Taliban and equated the capturing of Afghanistan to that of India's freedom struggle. Rahman, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Sambhal, said that the Taliban have only recaptured the land that originally belonged to them. He said that just like India's freedom fighters who fought against British Rule, the Taliban fought against countries like the US to free their land and run the country as they wanted.
"When India was under British rule, our country fought for freedom. Now the Taliban wants to free their country and run it. Taliban is a force that did not allow even strong countries like Russia and America to settle in their country," he told news agency ANI.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan two weeks before the United States was set to complete its troop withdrawal. US President Joe Biden had in April announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, thus bringing to end the country's longest war, spanning across two decades. Since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America has spent more than USD 1 trillion in fighting and rebuilding in Afghanistan. About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban insurgents and Afghan civilians.
The Taliban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), is a terrorist organisation. Thousands of Afghans rushed into Kabul's main airport on Monday, some so desperate to escape the Taliban that they held onto a military jet as it took off and plunged to their deaths.
Meanwhile, the Taliban said that discussions are underway in Doha about a future government in Afghanistan, including its structure and name, and they are expected to report on the process in the very near future.
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