DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY December 27, 2009 ~ Afghan Religious Council Condemns Pakistani Taliban Over Sending Fighters

DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY December 27, 2009 ~ Afghan Religious Council Condemns Pakistani Taliban Over Sending Fighters *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - December 27, 2009: Council of religious scholars in Afghanistan has strongly denounced the decision of Pakistani Taliban to send more militants to fight in the war-torn country, a statement of the religious body said on Saturday. In this photo taken on Oct. 3, 2007, Shah Abdul Aziz, a leader of a pro-Taliban religious party and former lawmaker smiles in Islamabad, Pakistan. Police in Pakistan say on Sunday, July 26, 2009 they are holding two men, including a former lawmaker Aziz, in custody for the beheading of a Polish geologist kidnapped near the Afghan border last year "The Afghanistan National Council of Ulemma (Religious Scholars)strongly condemns the recent announcement made by the Pakistani Taliban on sending militants to fight in Afghanistan," the statement said.

"Continuation of fighting is not in the interest of Islam and would rather harm the region," the statement further said. Pakistani tribesmen and supporters of religious party Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam chant slogans as they take part in a protest against U.S drone attacks in the tribal areas in the Pakistani-Afghan border town of Chaman. A Pakistani Taliban commander Waliur Rahman said recently that the outfit had sent thousands of fighters to fight against NATO-led troops stationed in Afghanistan, according to media reports.

Rahman made the announcement in the wake of the surge of U.S. and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan and mounting pressure by Pakistani troops against the militants in tribal areas along the Afghan border. In the statement, the religious body stressed that more fighting would "spread evil and fuel violence" and called on militants to renounce violence and instead resume normal life. Both the neighboring Asian states of Afghanistan and Pakistan have been facing a surging militancy which has claimed thousands of lives over the past couple of years.