Senior Taliban leader Qari Fasihuddin on Tuesday took charge as the new army chief of the Taliban-led Afghanistan, reported local media.
After taking charge, Fasihuddin on Wednesday said Afghanistan will soon have a "regular and disciplined" army of its own.
The Taliban army chief said discussions are underway to decide on the formation of a "regular, disciplined and strong army" in the near future, reported India Today. He added that soldiers will be trained to defend the boundaries of Afghanistan.
"We will not let a civil war erupt. Those disturbing security and stability will be trampled and those opposing the Taliban will be arrested," Fasihuddin said.
Taliban spokesman Ahmadullah Muttaqi also confirmed the same. He tweeted, "Afghanistan will soon have a well-organized army and force. Qari Fasihuddin, the Taliban's chief of staff, said consultations were underway to form an army and that a regular army and force would be formed soon. He said the troops should be trained to defend Afghanistan."
All you need to know about Qari Fasihuddin:
Originally from Badakhshan, Fasihuddin was reportedly given the charge to curb the resistance mounted by Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh in Panjshir.
Fasihuddin is also known as the "Qari the Conqueror" or "Conquerer of the Five Lions". He was reportedly the 'shadow governor' of Afghanistan's Badakhshan for some time.
Belonging to the Tajik ethnic group, he is considered one of the most charismatic leaders and is the first Tajik to have made it to the military commission in the history of the Taliban, a report said. "It is because of him that the entire Northern Alliance was toppled despite the fact that the Haqqani network and Mullah Yaqub, Mullah Baradar and Mullah Haibatullah were from Kandahar, Helmand, Kunar and Ghazni, where they faced a lot of resistance," it added.
Interestingly, in October 2015, the Afghan Ministry of Interior falsely claimed that Fasihuddin had been killed with 40 of his men. “Mawlawi Fasihuddin Taliban shadow governor for Badakhshan killed today in Baharak district," a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior had tweeted. However, the Taliban then said the report was false. An online statement posted on the Taliban website stated that Fasihuddin was alive.
