Taliban army chief warns exiled opponents they cannot topple the government

Fasihuddin Fitrat, the chief of staff of the Taliban administration’s army, targeted the administration’s overseas opponents at a ceremony marking the anniversary of 8 May, saying that those who, in his words, left Afghanistan at the direction of foreigners cannot overthrow the current system.

At the ceremony, he claimed that those who had abandoned their homes and country “on the orders of foreigners” and were plotting against the “Islamic system” from abroad would not be able to bring down the Taliban administration.

Fitrat also said: “My message to those who, on the orders of foreigners, have left their homeland and home and are plotting and conspiring against the Islamic system from outside the country is that they will never be able to overthrow our strong system, which has the support of God Almighty.”

The Taliban administration speaks of the strength of its system at a time when a number of this administration’s political and military opponents have left Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power and continue to criticize and oppose it from abroad. In Afghanistan’s political literature, “8 May” refers to the day the Mujahideen defeated Dr. Najibullah’s government.