Taliban Urge Int'l Community Not to Use Aid to Afghanistan to Exert Pressure

KABUL (Sputnik) - The Taliban have called on developed countries, the United Nations and other international organizations not to turn their assistance to Afghanistan into an instrument of political pressure.

"We hope that the UN, the richest countries in the world and many other organizations will lend a helping hand to the Afghan people, and not turn their assistance and support into an instrument of political pressure, and will also sincerely cooperate in overcoming existing issues," Zabihullah Mujahid, the movement's spokesman, tweeted.

The spokesman noted that what he called the US "invasion" of Afghanistan had resulted in nothing but casualties and financial loss. The Taliban believe that it is now up to the Afghans to decide the future of the country, he added.

In mid-August the Taliban entered Kabul, and the last province to resist the group, Panjshir, surrendered on September 6. As international troops withdrew from the country and foreign evacuations came to a close, the Taliban announced the composition of the all-male interim cabinet, headed by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, a former foreign minister during the previous Taliban rule, who has been under UN sanctions since 2001.

*The Taliban is a terrorist group outlawed in many countries, including Russia