Global General

Afghan leader tells Taliban not to fight

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-05-02 16:04

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban on Monday to cease fighting after the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and added they should learn a lesson from his death.

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"The Taliban must learn a lesson from this. The Taliban should refrain from fighting," Karzai told a nationally televised news conference.

Karzai's comments came only hours after US President Barack Obama announced bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States which sparked off the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, had been killed in a US-led operation.

Bin Laden's death is highly symbolic but many analysts doubt it will mark a turning point in the worldwide war against a highly fractured network of militants, or end the battle against the Taliban in Afghanistan any sooner.

The Taliban announced the start of their "spring offensive" over the weekend, vowing to carry out a wave of attacks, including suicide raids, targeting foreign and Afghan troops and government officials.

On Sunday, 11 people were killed, including Afghan civilians, as Taliban insurgents carried out attacks in central and southeastern Afghanistan.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the war started almost ten years ago with record casualties on all sides of the conflict. The United Nations on Sunday called on all sides to avoid harming civilians.    

Live report