One of the top leaders of the movement of the Taliban in Pakistan said the terror group sought to overthrow the Pakistani government, impose sharia, seize the country’s nuclear weapons, and wage jihad until “the Caliphate is established across the world”.
The statements were made by Omar Khalid al Khurasani, the al Qaeda-linked leader of the Taliban in Pakistan’s branch in the Mohmand Agency, in a video that was released on jihadist web forums.
The video, which also discussed the history and evolution of the Taliban Movement in Pakistan, was released by Umar Studios and has been translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
In the video, Khalid said the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan was united, strong and operating under the leadership of Commander Hakeemullah Mehsud. Khalid outlined five “important goals” of the Taliban: overthrow the Pakistani institutions; release both Pakistani and “foreign” fighters; impose sharia law; obtain a nuclear weapon; and establish a global caliphate.
“First of all, we aim to counter the Pakistani government, its intelligence agencies, and its army, which are against Islam and have oppressed the mujahideen and their families,” Khalid said, according to the SITE translation. The Taliban want to “avenge the oppression of the mujahideen in the tribal and urban areas” as well as the “humiliation of the mujahideen in Pakistani prisons”.
“Our second objective is to seek the safe release of Pakistani and foreign mujahideen in Pakistan,” Khalid continued. The term “foreign mujahideen” refers to members of al Qaeda and other outside terror groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Khalid said the Taliban wanted to “replace the English system of democracy with Islamic Shariah” as “the Pakistani system has nothing to do with Islam”.
Khalid also said that the Taliban wanted to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and “other resources”, including the army, to defend Islam.