Dostum Calls for Increased Global Pressure on Taliban

DID Press: Abdul Rashid Dostum, leader of Afghanistan’s National Islamic Movement, has called on the United Nations and countries involved in the Afghanistan file to increase financial and political pressure on the Taliban and halt direct assistance to the group.

Dostum urged the international community to exert greater pressure on the Taliban to push the group toward accepting an inclusive political process.

He called for increased financial pressure, deeper political isolation of the Taliban and an end to direct assistance to the group.

He said such measures could push the Taliban toward a “shared national and international dialogue.”

The leader of Afghanistan’s National Islamic Movement described the Taliban government as “illegitimate” and cited the group’s restrictions on girls’ education, women’s activities and freedom of movement, the media, and ethnic and religious minorities as among the factors contributing to Afghanistan’s current crisis.

Dostum also warned about the presence of armed groups, including al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan and stressed that his efforts to find a political solution to the country’s crisis would continue.