Quetta Council Orders Taliban to Level up Suicide Attacks
Commander of Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan General John Nicholson has said that Quetta Council asked the Taliban to increase suicide attacks instead of launching operations to capture cities.
Commander of Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan General John Nicholson has said that Quetta Council asked the Taliban to increase suicide attacks instead of launching operations to capture cities.
General Nicholson said the Taliban leaders decided four months ago at a meeting in Quetta that since then, the fighters of that group should not seize the cities of Afghanistan, instead increase their suicide attacks to show their existence.
“I consider this as the Taliban’s diminution of their ambitions, it means that our pressures are effective,” Mr Nicholson further said.
Authorities in Afghanistan have repeatedly emphasized that Taliban leaders are based in Pakistan and terrorists have safe havens there.
Earlier, National Security Advisor M. Hanif Atmar said the families of the Taliban were held hostage in Pakistan. Although the Taliban and Pakistan reject this claim.
Since September 2016, when the Taliban captured Kunduz province for a short time, they have not been able to capture any other city in Afghanistan. But their suicide attacks continued during this period.According to UNAMA report, 57 suicide attacks occurred in 2017, in which 605 civilians were killed and 2,000 others injured.
Taliban’s suicide attacks dropped by 22% in 2017 compared to 2016, but suicide attacks by Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) terrorist group have increased by 18% this year, the report said.
