KABUL — Captured Taliban fighters have consistently expressed confidence that their movement will again rule Afghanistan, according to a report prepared by NATO forces, but Western military officials noted Wednesday that the document reflected the opinions of committed Islamist insurgents and not the alliance’s view.
The report also suggests a significant degree of command and control over the Taliban emanating from Pakistani officialdom, by the fighters’ own accounts — a narrative sharply contested by Pakistan’s foreign minister during a visit to Kabul.
Also Wednesday, a Taliban spokesman denied reports that the movement has agreed to engage in talks in Saudi Arabia with the Afghan government.
Separate contacts between Taliban representatives and U.S. officials have been taking place in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. Confidence-building measures, including the prospective transfer of five Taliban detainees now being held at Guantanamo Bay, are being discussed as a prelude to any formal negotiations.
The NATO report, based on thousands of interviews with Taliban fighters captured on the battlefield and in targeted raids by special forces, reflects a strong belief on insurgents’ part that they will ultimately prevail in their fight against the West, according to the British Broadcasting Corp. and the Times of London, which obtained copies of the document. A Western official who was briefed on the report’s contents confirmed its broad outlines.
However, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said the report did not reflect military analyses of the state of the insurgency, only the views of “ruthless, highly motivated” detainees speaking defiantly to their captors.
Also Wednesday, Afghan and North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials confirmed the death of a member of the NATO force in a shooting by an Afghan soldier a day earlier. It was the fourth such instance in slightly more than a month of a member of the Afghan police or army firing on Western allies.
Afghan authorities in Helmand province said the victim was a U.S. Marine but said it was not yet clear whether the shooting was intentional.
