ISLAMABAD (APP) - Former Afghan National Army Lieutenant General Sami Sadat has announced the launch of coordinated armed operations against the Taliban regime under the banner of the Afghanistan United Front (AUF).
Reappearing in military uniform beneath the tricolor flag of the former Afghan Republic nearly five years after its fall, General Sadat addressed supporters on behalf of the AUF, stating that military operations were officially authorized to begin a phased nationwide campaign aimed at restoring constitutional order in Afghanistan, according to the media reports.
According to Sadat, the initial phase of the military campaign will target Taliban fighters, military installations, and senior leadership, before expanding into subsequent operational phases across the country.
He noted that military operations would be integrated with political, diplomatic, and public mobilization efforts for the liberation of Afghanistan.
General Sadat stated that nearly five years of appeals by the Afghan people and civil society had been ignored by the international community.
He asserted that negotiations with the Taliban had failed, leaving armed resistance as the only remaining path to restore a free and constitutional Afghanistan.
He said that the Taliban regime has been subjecting Afghans of repression, fear, and systematic human rights abuses, while transforming the country into a sanctuary for Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and other terrorist organizations.
Besides, he said that that Afghanistan’s natural resources were being exploited to finance and strengthen these terrorist networks.
Sadat called on former Afghan National Security and Defense Forces personnel, political leaders, and Afghans both inside and outside the country to unite under the Republic’s tricolor flag and join the AUF in a national struggle for Afghanistan’s future.
He clarified that the AUF does not seek the deployment of foreign troops or foreign military bases, but is requesting political and material support from the international community.
He pledged that Afghan forces would themselves fight the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, TTP, and other terrorist organizations while strictly adhering to international humanitarian law and protecting civilians.
Sadat said that the Afghanistan United Front considers itself the legitimate continuation of the former Afghan National Army.
He emphasized that the Front’s ultimate goal is to restore an independent, constitutional Afghanistan in accordance with the 2004 Constitution, international humanitarian law, and the will of the Afghan people expressed through a Loya Jirga.