The new leader of the Taliban called for an end to foreign forces’ “occupation” of Afghanistan as a preliminary step to a settlement based on Islamic law that he said would bring unity to a country riven by decades of war. In one of his first public statements, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, who was named leader of the movement after the death of his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a U.S. drone strike in May, said agreement was possible if the government in Kabul renounced its foreign allies. He said the Taliban had a program aimed at creating an independent and united country under Islamic law and told the Western-backed government in Kabul that “the doors of forgiveness and tolerance are open”. The statement came two days after a suicide attack that killed more than 30 newly graduated police cadets and wounded dozens more and less than two weeks after more than 20 people were killed in separate attacks in Kabul and the northern province of Badakhshan.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-taliban-idUSKCN0ZI0AR
