The commander of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan has said foreign fighters allied with the Taliban cannot be “reintegrated” into Afghan society and some may have to be killed or captured.
Plans by Kabul to persuade Taliban members to lay down their arms would not apply to foreigners who had joined the insurgency, often for ideological reasons, US General Stanley McChrystal suggested in a NATO video posted on the Web on Tuesday.
“I think what we probably will find is where we are successful in decreasing the Taliban, the foreigners just won’t have anywhere to go,” he said.
“Some of them will obviously be killed or captured because ... this is just what they want to do,” he said. “Some will leave I think. But I think they will be increasingly irrelevant.”
Foreign fighters are completely dependent on the Taliban and cannot operate without their guidance and networks, he said.
The general’s comments came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai promotes a plan to woo Taliban fighters and broker peace with insurgent leaders ahead of an international conference in London today.
McChrystal and senior US officials have recently signaled more flexibility on the issue, as Karzai appeals to international donors to bankroll a scheme that would offer cash and protection for those willing to walk away from the battlefield.
McChrystal also said that he expected some Afghan insurgents would not formally change sides in the war but merely choose to stop attacking Kabul government forces.
“I think a lot of reintegration won’t be formal,” he said. “It will just be, you’ll just notice there are fewer of them.”
The commander also reiterated his optimistic view of the NATO war effort, saying that by the end of the year there would be definite signs of progress and by the middle of next year, it would be clear that the Taliban could not win.
Meanwhile, the UN has removed five former Taliban officials from its sanctions list ahead of today’s international conference in London.
The UN said on Tuesday that the sanctions committee approved the deletion of Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, a former foreign minister and confidant of Mullah Mohammed Omar. Others removed from the list were an ex-deputy commerce minister, deputy minister of frontier affairs, deputy planning minister and a press officer.
The men will no longer face a travel ban, an assets freeze or other punitive measures.
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