Afghan Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has issued a religious edict against the militants fighting Pakistani security forces, declaring that they would not be considered martyrs if killed. The edict also prohibits Afghan nationals and government officials from attending the funeral prayers of these militants.
The fatwa or decree from the Taliban’s supreme leader was first raised during talks between Aghan and Pakistani officials in Kabul last month, said Voice of America. However, sources told Aaj News that Hibatulllah issued a detailed decree on Friday, announcing it during the Friday sermon.
The most important part of the new decree – which is more detailed than the one discussed during the talks last month – was the call for a social boycott of Afghan nationals who fought outside Afghanistan, said the sources.
No Afghan citizen or member of the Afghan government will cross the border for militancy, it said.
Those who went to Pakistan for militancy and were killed will not be called martyrs but their death will be declared impure, it was ruled in the decree.
The decree is also aimed at militants who leave the country to fight in China or Uzbekistan, and not just Pakistan, said the sources.
Voice of America and Pakistani English language newspaper Tribune reported this week that Pakistan had been calling on the Afghanistan government to make the decree public.
The demand was raised when Pakistan’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan led a team to Kabul to hold talks with Afghanistan’s foreign and interior ministers, namely Amir Khan Muttaqi and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, said VOA.
Taliban leaders responded by saying that they had “circulated it among our people, among the [security] formations, and intelligence,” reported VOA citing Pakistani a official.
“Sheikh Hibatullah’s diktats bind all groups pledging allegiance to him, and his diktat is that attacking Pakistan is haram,” the official quoted Taliban hosts as telling the delegates.
The American broadcaster says Taliban officials did not respond to its call for comment.
Sources told Aaj News that there was no written proof of the decree, however, Afghanistan’s Defence Minister Mullah Yaqboob appeared to repeat Hibatullah’s decree when he told fighters on Saturday that Mullah Hibatullah had “terminated” jihad outside Afghanistan.
His address was aired on Afghan television.
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Yaqoob said that the Taliban supreme leader had terminated the jihad or holy war, and “obedience” to his decree is mandatory“ for all. He was addressing a gathering of Taliban commanders and security forces.
“If someone still leaves Afghanistan intending to wage jihad abroad, it cannot be considered jihad anymore. If Mujahideen [Taliban forces] continue to fight despite orders from the emir to stop, it is not jihad but rather hostility,” Yaqoob said, using Haibatullah’s official title.
