Taliban deny role in 9/11; accuse US of using incident to invade Afghanistan

Washington: The Taliban in a statement released on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack said that their movement had no role in the incident and accused the United States of using it to invade Afghanistan where they have killed tens of thousands of innocent Afghans.

"Each year, 9/11 reminds the Afghans of an event in which they had no role whatsoever," news agency PTI quoted from the statement issued by the Taliban. "American colonialism has shed the blood of tens of thousands of miserable and innocent Afghans."

The statement further said that the Afghan people had "an endless stamina for a long war" and could rise up as a nation "to send the Americans to the dustbin of history." 

The statement came as the United States remembers the events of 10 years ago, and to commemorate those killed in the attack, US President Barack Obama, former president George W. Bush and other officials joined their family members at the reflecting pools, which were built over the towers' footprints.
 

Stating that the international community was responsible for killing thousands of Afghans during the invasion and ensuing occupation of the country, the statement said, "It will remain a permanent stigma on the face of the Western democracy that America and her allies martyred tens of thousands of Muslims under the pretext of this ambiguous and murky event."

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, after the Taliban, who then ruled the country, refused to hand over al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Taliban leaders granted bin Laden sanctuary in Afghanistan for several years, despite US demands for his extradition over previous terror attacks, and declined to hand him over when he became the main suspect in the 9/11 attacks.
 

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