Taliban Chief offers Safe Passage for NATO if it Withdraws from Afghanistan

Taliban's commander, Mullah Mohammad Omar, released a rare statement which said the taliban would offer NATO forces safe passage if they withdraw from Afghanistan. The statement goes on to say that if they don't then will face the same fate as the Soviets. Omar also urged his fighters not to bomb mosques, civilians or burn any books.

Omar has made a fundamental error in judgement when he compares NATO forces to the Soviet forces that invaded Afghanistan. We have a lot more killer toys, such as A10s, AC-130s, predator drones not to mention the brave soldiers, than the Soviets had. AFP

KABUL (AFP) — Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammad Omar on Tuesday offered international forces safe passage if they withdrew from Afghanistan and ordered his fighters to drop certain tactics, such as attacks in mosques.

In a traditional message for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr festival posted on a Taliban website, the fugitive former leader of Afghanistan also told his fighters to avoid civilian casualties as they battle Afghan and foreign troops.

He said that if US and NATO troops fighting his hardline militia failed to take up the offer of a safe withdrawal, they would suffer a defeat like Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

"I say to the invaders: if you leave our country, we will provide you the safe context to do so," said Omar, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.

"If you insist on your invasion, you will be defeated like the Russians before you."