ISLAMABAD: A delegation of senior Afghan politicians currently visiting Pakistan told a group of journalists in Islamabad on Thursday they were against single-party system in their country shortly after the Taliban announced the creation of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The Taliban intensified their military campaign to capture Afghan cities and strategic border crossings after US President Joe Biden announced a complete pullout of international forces from the war-battered country last April.
The pace of their battlefield victories surprised much of the world, as members of the insurgent faction rolled into the Afghan capital while diplomats and other foreign nationals were still in the middle of the evacuation process.
After their reemergence as a dominant political force in the country, a Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid declared the creation of the Islamic emirate "on the occasion of the 102nd anniversary of the country's independence from British rule" in a Pashto tweet on Thursday.
"Afghanistan can only be governed by including all political parties and other major entities," the delegation announced while dismissing the idea of one-party rule.
"The Taliban will meet the same fate that they previously did if they are going to repeat the mistakes of 1996," it continued.
The Afghan politicians arrived in Pakistan on Sunday after their visit was delayed for about a month.
Their delegation consists of some high-profile politicians, including Mir Rehman Rehmani, Muhammad Yunus Qanooni, Ahmad Zia Massoud and Ahmad Wali Massoud.
During the media talk, they also blamed President Ashraf Ghani for not playing a "responsible role" in the Afghan peace process, saying they were aware he would ultimately "escape" from his country.
Ghani fled to the United Arab Emirates shortly before the Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday.
Justifying his decision in a brief social media message, the Afghan president said he had left his country to save his people from bloodshed.
The visiting delegation said it was not the first time an Afghan ruler had "stolen" the national wealth of their country.
They were making a reference to accusations that Ghani had taken a large amount of money with him while leaving Afghanistan, though the Afghan president denied the reports in a recent video clip in which he also said he had left Kabul on the advice of his government officials.
The visiting Afghan politicians said they wanted to open a new chapter of the Pak-Afghan bilateral relations while adding that the two countries could only acquire greater peace and stability by working together.
