Supreme Taliban leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada once again warned Westerners not to interfere in Afghanistan.
This was reported by CNN, specifying that the number one of the so-called 'Koranic students' spoke during a rare speech at a gathering of Islamic religious in Kabul.
Afghanistan "cannot develop without being independent"
, he added - according to the state news agency Bakhtar -. Thank God, we are now an independent country. "Foreigners" should not give us their orders.
This is our system and we have our decisions. "
Akhundzada then praised the Taliban's conquest of Afghanistan last August, nearly two decades after being driven out of Kabul by US troops, stating that "the success of Afghan Jihad is not only a source of pride for the Afghans but also for all Muslims in the world ".