Taliban to all nations in Afghanistan: Get out this year

Taliban to all nations in Afghanistan: Get out this year

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan The Taliban today urged all NATO nations in Afghanistan to follow France’s lead and pull their forces from the war.

The call came in a three-page statement released just as heads of state opened the NATO summit in Chicago to talk about the future of Afghanistan.

The Taliban also on Sunday took responsibility for a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan.

The newly elected president of France has said he will withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by year’s end — a full two years before the timeline agreed to by nations in U.S.-led NATO coalition.

“The declaration of the new president of France, Francois Hollande, that all its troops will be removed from Afghanistan at the end of this year is a decision based on realities and a reflection of the opinion of its nation,” the Taliban said in an English version of the statement posted on its Web site.