The Taliban held their first official news conference in Kabul since the shock seizure of the city, declaring on Tuesday they wished for peaceful relations with other countries. "I would like to assure the international community, including the U.S., that nobody will be harmed in Afghanistan," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
"We don't want any internal or external enemies," Taliban's main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, said.
The spokesman asserted that the rights of women will be protected within the framework of Islam.
Mujahid also congratulated the nation for "emancipating" Afghanistan and expelling "foreigners" after a 20-year struggle.
The Taliban would not seek retribution against former soldiers and members of the Western-backed government, Mujahid said, adding that "everyone is forgiven." He said that the Taliban are granting an amnesty for former Afghan government soldiers as well as contractors and translators who worked for international forces.
"Nobody is going to harm you, nobody is going to knock on your doors," he said.
Mujahid stressed that Afghanistan would not allow itself to harbor anyone targeting other nations.
He was asked whether the Taliban have changed since they were in power 20 years ago.
Mujahid said "this question is based on ideology and value systems. Our nation is a Muslim nation, whether it was 20 years ago, or whether it was now. "
But when it comes to experience and maturity and vision, of course, there's a huge difference between us, in comparison to 20 years ago he said adding "there will be a difference when it comes to the actions we're going to take, this has been like a evolutionary complimentary sort of process."
He said private media could continue to be free and independent in Afghanistan, adding the Taliban were committed to the media within its cultural framework.
He also pledged that Afghanistan, source of most of the world's heroin, would be free of narcotics, asking the international community to help it develop alternative crops for farmers who have relied on opium poppies for their livelihood.
Text of Mujahid's press conference was published by Al Jazeera.
Evacuations from Kabul speed up as Taliban promises peace
Planes carrying hundreds of evacuees from Kabul arrived in the United Kingdom and Germany Tuesday as Western nations stepped up evacuation efforts and the Taliban promised women's rights, media freedom and amnesty for government officials in Afghanistan, according to Al Jazeera.
A British Royal Air Force plane carrying British nationals and embassy staff landed at an air base in Oxfordshire, UK, while a German government chartered Lufthansa flight carrying 130 evacuees landed in Frankfurt in Germany.
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