Downing Street Says » Training of Taliban

» Monday, February 4, 2008

Training of Taliban

Asked about reports of British troops training former members of the Taliban without the will of the Afghan Government, the PMS said we were working very closely with the Afghanistan Government in relation to the training of security forces in Afghanistan. We had always made clear that should anyone in Afghanistan join the mainstream Afghanistan security services, they would receive the same level of training as was applicable for the Afghanistan Army.

Asked if that would include former members of the Taliban, the PMS reiterated that it was the Government’s position that we did not want to engage with the Taliban and the Government wanted to drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan. However, if there were local militias who wanted to join the mainstream Afghanistan security forces, then that was something the Afghanistan Government themselves had said that they welcomed. The PMS added that recruitment was something for the Afghanistan Government and not for us.

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