Peshawar: After issuing denials on Sunday, the Taliban formally confirmed the killing of their top military commander Mullah Dadullah Akhund by foreign forces in southern Afghanistan.
"We can confirm that Mullah Dadullah was martyred. But the enemy should not think that the killing of Mullah Dadullah will weaken the Taliban movement," said Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousaf Ahmadi yesterday while quoting a statement of Taliban leadership council.
"The Taliban leadership council condoles with its members the martyrdom of Mullah Dadullah, and asks the government to hand his body to Taliban as soon as possible," he said.
Criticism
The Taliban spokesman criticised human rights organisations and said: "Why these people have kept mum over this issue. Carrying the body from one place to another and putting it on display is an insult. Therefore, we demand of the human rights organisations to ask the Afghan government to hand over the body to Taliban for burial," he stated.
Mullah Dadullah, 41, was killed along with 10 of his men in a joint US, Nato and Afghan National Army military operation in Helmand province.
