KABUL - Mullah Mansour Dadullah, a senior Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan – says he returned to Afghanistan recently after refusing to work with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and said that the Taliban leaders are selected by the ISI.
Mullah Mansour Dadullah, who is opposed to Mullah Mansour, the current Taliban leader, said Taliban militants who are under the control of Pakistan are fighting his supporters in southern Zabul province.
"They [ISI] proposed their recommendations for me which one of them was that I should kill people they want dead. They had other similar recommendations as well which were against Islam," said Mullah Mansour Dadullah.
He said: "They agreed to continue their financial, logistical and technical aid to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – the Taliban's so-called government – but I rejected their suggestions and I returned to Afghanistan."
The former leader of Taliban's Jaish-ul-Muslimeen wing, Syed Akbar Agha played down the statements, saying any comments that originate from Taliban parties opposed to each other are questionable.
"In don't think it will be trustworthy because such comments – whether from Mullah Mansour Dadullah or from Akhtar Mohammad Mansour – will be the result of rifts among them," he said.
Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Rahil Sharif meanwhile voiced his concerns over the situation in Afghanistan, saying that no force can hamper the historic relations between Kabul and Islamabad.
At a ceremony commemorating Pakistan's Defense Day on Sunday, he said his country would honestly fight terrorism.
"We are concerned about the situation in Afghanistan. We have historic and blood relationships with Afghanistan. No force can break these ties," Sharif said.
"We have honestly struggled for stability in Afghanistan but a number of enemy groups are trying to damage our struggles. They will not succeed to reach their aim," he added.
Amir Khan Yar, an MP from Nangarhar however says the two governments – Afghanistan and Pakistan – should find the root cause of the problem.
"If there are some problems between Afghanistan and Pakistan - or the groups which want to create hurdles in this regard - should be recognized by Kabul and Islamabad and they should find the root cause," he told TOLOnews. (Tolonews)