Afghan Taliban decry violence in CAR

Militants condemn ‘merciless killings’ of Muslims by militias

KABUL // The Afghan Taliban has called for an end to violence against Muslims in the Central African Republic, making a rare statement on conflicts outside their region that was soon echoed by Al Qaeda’s North Africa branch.

The Central African Republic has been wracked by sectarian violence, with Christian fighters hunting down and killing Muslim civilians in recent weeks despite the presence of thousands of French and African peacekeepers.

The violence has displaced tens of thousands of Muslims in what the United Nations humanrights body has called “ethnic-religious cleansing”.

The Taliban on Saturday condemned the “merciless killings” of Muslims at the hands of “bloodthirsty militias” as the world sits “idly by”.

It warned that the situation was threatening the peaceful co- existence of Muslims and Christians throughout Africa and urged the world community, including the Pope, to stop the bloodshed. The comments are “more than surprising”, according to Nader Nadery, the director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, a Kabul-based think tank. “It has been very rare where the Taliban would comment or show concern about any development internationally that has not been linked to their cause or to their ideology,” he said.

While the Taliban have long focused on their domestic conflict, Mr Nadery said the unusual statement could be an effort to display Muslim solidarity or might be tied to increasing talk and demands to be recognised as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

“This is symbolically an attempt both to show they are mindful of what’s happening globally and caring about the Muslim world, and they are trying to portray themselves as a state,” he said.

It could also suggest that the Taliban is trying to help rally international jihad, “more in line with how Al Qaeda usually opines on matters from Syria to Iraq to elsewhere”, said Michael O’Hanlon, an Afghan expert at The Brookings Institution.

Shortly after the Taliban statement, Al Qaeda’s North Africa branch also condemned the “ethnic and sectarian cleansing” in Central African Republic and blamed France, which has peacekeepers in the country, for fomenting the conflict. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has previously threatened French interests around the world because of France’s military intervention in Mali. The group has urged Muslims in Africa to strike French interests over actions in Central African Republic.