JALALABAD - As reports emerge about alleged calls to build militia groups against Daesh insurgents in eastern Nangarhar province, senior security officials on Tuesday declared that no illegal armed groups will be allowed to operate in any part of Afghanistan.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Rahmatullah Nabil, Interior Minister Noorulhaq Olomi and the Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qadam Shah Shaheem said Afghanistan has already suffered devastating results by militia groups.
They declared that Afghanistan will not go back to the 1990s – the years of civil war in Afghanistan.
"The defense sector should be regular and must be led by [legitimate] security force members," Nabil noted.
In turn, the army chief warned irresponsible armed groups could drive Afghanistan towards further insecurity.
"We will not allow any force outside the National Police, the National Army and the NDS to defend the country," Gen Shaheem emphasized. "We will not allow anyone to force us back the past."
These statements came after Nangarhar MP Abdul Zahir Qadir, who is also the first deputy speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, accused the National Security Council (NSC) on Monday of supporting Daesh which he said will lead the country towards further instability.
"What can we do? People within government and in the National Security Council support Daesh. If we do not stop Daesh today, tomorrow it will be a massive problem," said Qadir.
Referring to his allegations, the interior minister said: "If he [Qadir] has evidence, he must present that so that they should be referred to the courts and courts must decide on it."
However, the provincial governor of Nangarhar, Salim Khan Kunduzi, stressed the need for cooperation with government in a legal framework.
"Cooperation with government must occur within a legal framework. We have our regular force who is fighting insurgents and that is legal," Kunduzi said. "We have already cleared this in the past that we will not allow any militia group to operate in the province."
However the NSC on Monday night denied claims made by Qadir that they support Daesh in the country.
The NSC said the allegations are totally baseless and called for a team to be established to investigate Qadir's claims.
Speaking to TOLOnews, the NSC's spokesman Tawab Ghorzand said Qadir's claims were an excuse to get illegal resources to establish militia groups. (Tolonews)