Taliban issues ultimatum to Canada

Taliban issues ultimatum to Canada Get troops out or Canadians will be targeted Scott Deveau ,  Canwest News ServicePublished: Sunday, August 17, 2008

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The Taliban issued a dire warning to Canada Sunday that if it does not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, insurgents would continue to target "all" Canadians in the country, like they did earlier this week in an ambush attack on female aid workers outside Kabul.

The Taliban urged Canadians in an open letter to press the government to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan or risk further attacks.

"The Afghans did not go to Canada to kill the Canadians. Rather, it is the Canadians who came to Afghanistan to kill and torture the Afghan," the letter states, adding that they felt Canada was pandering to the United States in doing so.

A Canadian soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stands guard during a patrol. Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images

"Therefore, you have to convince your government to put an end to the occupation of Afghanistan, so that the Afghans are not killed with your hands and so that you are not killed with the hands of the Afghans."

In a statement to Canwest News Service, Defence Minister Peter MacKay condemned the letter, saying that it will not waver the goals of Canadian soldiers currently in Afghanistan.

"This letter is a disgusting attempt to justify the deliberate killings of innocent civilians. There is no justification for these killings by the Taliban," he said Sunday. "Canada is in Afghanistan at the request of the democratically elected government of that country."

He added that Canada will continue to try to bring stability and security to the Afghan people.

"We will continue to fight for these goals," MacKay said. "We will continue to protect the Afghan people from these ruthless killers."

A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Canwest News Service Sunday Canada does not respond to threats from the Taliban.

"This has no effect whatsoever on the Canadian mission," spokesman Kory Teneycke said. "The Taliban demonstrates time and again, its willingness to target civilians, including Afghan civilians as part of their efforts."

Earlier this week, four aid workers from the International Rescue Committee, including two Canadians, were killed in a brazen daylight ambush on a stretch of road just south of Kabul.

The Taliban have taken credit for the shooting deaths of Jackie Kirk, 40, of Montreal; Shirley Case, 30, of Williams Lake, B.C.; and Nicole Dial, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Trinidad. Their Afghan driver was also killed.

The four were in the country working on educational programs for Afghan children. 

Their deaths add to the 19 non-governmental agency workers that have been killed in the country so far this year - more than were killed in all of 2007.

The IRC held a news conference in Kabul Saturday to reiterate that they were committed to continuing their work in the country, but needed to assess why their aid workers were being targeted after two others were killed last summer in a similar attack.

The IRC has been offering educational and other emergency aid in Afghanistan since 1979, just weeks after the Soviet led invasion of the country.

The situation in Afghanistan has become increasingly treacherous for foreign aid workers in the country, who were once deemed neutral in the conflict.

In an interview earlier this week, Mohammad Hashim Mayar, deputy director of Agency Co-ordinating Body for Afghan Relief, said he believed the security situation outside of Kabul is worsening and that is leading to more attacks since a lot of the development work is being done outside of the country.

ACBAR represents more than half of the 200 NGOs doing development work in the country.

The Taliban says they are now targeting Western aid workers because they are promoting the agenda of the West. However, their critics, including Mayar, say their efforts are aimed at destabilizing any development in the country in order to make the NATO-backed Karzai government appear weak.

"Afghanistan has to try to have good relations with you," the Taliban said in its letter to Canadians.
"But if your government continues a reversed policy, the Afghans will be obliged to kill your nationals, in revenge for their brothers, their sisters, and their children."

Zabiullah Mujahid, who identifies himself as spokesman for Taliban, said in a telephone interview that journalists may also be targeted.

"If we arrest their journalists or aid workers we will target them as we did in Logar province. They are not differentiating women and children with military targets, and we will not differentiate theirs too."

Neither the Canadian Armed Forces nor the Canadian Embassy in Afghanistan would comment on the letter.

National Post with files from Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service