As Taliban rejected a ceasefire demand by the grand assembly, Loya Jirga, of 3,200 delegates from around the country, the Kandahar Police Chief Gen. Tadeen Khan on Saturday ordered his forces to show “no mercy” for the Taliban on the battlefields.
A Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet in response to US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad that “the US Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad should forget about the idea of putting down our arms, adding that instead of such “fantasies” he should drive the idea home about ending the use of force and incurring further human and financial losses for the Kabul administration”.
“We have ordered all security forces in Kandahar not to show mercy for the Taliban on the battlefields because the Taliban are the ‘slaves’ and there is no more patience against them,” Tadeen Khan said. “We will change Kandahar into hell for them (Taliban).”
Khan warned the Taliban that the operations intensify against them.
“We will increase our operation against the Taliban and at the moment our operations are underway in six districts and we are trying to eliminate the Taliban,” said Khan.
Kandahar residents have called on the Taliban to quit violence and embrace peace.