Last year Mullah Omar promised that fighting will not stop until Afghanistan is once again a “real” Islamic state.
Today Mullah Omar celebrated the release of five Gitmo detainees.
The BBC reported:
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has praised US forces in Afghanistan over the release of a US soldier held for nearly five years by the Taliban.
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, 28, was handed to US special forces in south-eastern Afghanistan as part of a prisoner swap.
Mr Hagel met some of those involved at Bagram airbase north of Kabul during a previously unannounced visit.
In return, five senior Afghan detainees have been released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
The Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has reportedly hailed their release.
“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation, all the mujahideen and to the families and relatives of the prisoners for this big victory regarding the release of five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo prison,” he said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released by the Taliban yesterday in a prisoner swap.
Bergdahl was the only living POW held by the Taliban. He was captured by the Taliban in 2009 in Afghanistan.
The Taliban website Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan posted this statement on the release of the prisoners.
We heartily congratulate the whole nation, Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate, particularly the kith and kin of the released ones that five heads of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan namely Mulla Muhammad Fazal Akhund, Mulla Noorulla Noori, Mulla Khairulla Khairkhwa, Mulla Abdul Haq Waseeq and Moulavi Muhammad Nabi who had been incarcerated for the last thirteen years in ‘Guantanamo Jail’ are released due to the benevolence of Allah Almighty and the sacrifices of the heroic and courageous Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate.
These five heads were released in the result of an indirect negotiation between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States mediated by Qatari government. They will remain with their families inside Qatar and will lead a normal life.
To get the preceding five heads released, it is worth mentioning that the Islamic Emirate handed over the American soldier to the US who was captive with us approximately for the last five years.
These five heads of the Islamic Emirate were handed over on Saturday at 07:00 pm Afghanistan standard time to the delegation of Qatar who has been waiting there in ‘Guantanamo Bay’ for the previous three days. This delegation, including five heads of the Islamic Emirate, left Guantanamo at 10:00 pm and will arrive in Qatar today Sunday. They will be received and welcomed by the Political Bureau of the Islamic Emirate inside Qatar and members of the leading council of the Islamic Emirate. Similarly, the American prisoner ‘Bergdahl’ was handed over in the suburbs of ‘Khost’ province to the other side on Saturday at 07:00 pm Afghanistan standard time.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been taking all possible measures since long to get all the Afghan prisoners released whether they are incarcerated inside the country or outside and to let them enjoy a free and peaceful life.
In the future too, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is determined to get all the Mujahidin prisoners released as soon as possible. In this regard, we expect all the legal and human rights societies particularly the United Nations to share and accelerate their efforts with Afghan people and the Islamic Emirate on the basis of human sympathy so that all the incarcerated people are freed and their basic legal and human rights are safeguarded and they could lead an independent and peaceful life of their own accord.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
