As Afghstan government and the West step up efforts to integrate Taliban into the government, the extremist group has released a video eulogising Jihad and the Islamic Emirate, which they had established in Afghstan in 1996, few years before 9/11.
In the video, titled 'Real men 4', the Taliban denounced "deviants ... who are trained in the poisonous deviant beliefs of atheism, communism, secularism, democracy, and other satc western and disbelieving ideologies," reports FDD's Long War Journal.
According to its Editor, Bill Roggio, the video is seen as a message that the Taliban will not compromise with the Afghan government, which the group earlier defined as illegitimate, impotent and un-Islamic, and "the only acceptable government is its own Islamic Emirate of Afghstan, with its emir, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada at the helm."
It shows Afghan political leaders, musicians and entertainers with a voice-over saying, "But the Deviants are those who are trained in the poisonous deviant beliefs of atheism, communism, secularism, democracy, and other satc western and disbelieving ideologies in order to mislead the Muslims with their deviant ideologies."
On June 8, the US peace envoy for Afghstan Zalmay Khalilzad and US General Scott Miller, the commander of foreign troops in Afghstan, had met the Taliban's deputy leader Mullah Baradar in Doha.
"Both sides talked about (the) speedy release of the prisoners and commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations," Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman had tweeted.
But the video indicates something else.
A segment shows Afghan officials and military officers alongside American leaders, including President Donald Trump and Miller, with the commentary describing American officials as "invaders" and "disbelievers."
Roggio, also a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, further writes that "the Taliban's message of scorn and disdain for the Afghan and US governments, and Western governance and culture is nothing new. The jihadist group has been very clear over the past two decades that the only acceptable form of government in Afghstan is an 'Islamic system' that is to be ruled by the Taliban's government.
The flip-flop-flip by Taliban is not new. The group has gone back on their words, saying that after so much sacrifice, they will not share power "for the sake of some silly ministerial posts."
( With inputs from ANI )