LONDON, August 17. /TASS/. The Taliban (outlawed in Russia) has pledged not to attack foreign troops as their withdrawal from Afghanistan is nearing its end, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said on Tuesday in an interview with Sky News.

"They should get their troops out of Afghanistan, they have already violated the timeframe that was enshrined in the Doha agreement. Then they announced that they will withdraw all their forces before September 11. So, they should withdraw all their forces, but we are committed not to attack them. And we have not attacked them," he said.

Shaheen also noted that the movement is now determining who will lead the regime in Afghanistan. "This is under instruction and consultations of our leadership. That decision will be taken among the leadership on the basis of these consultation and deliberation which will choose a leader," he stressed, adding that these consultations are expected to be completed within two or three days.

The spokesperson declined to confirm the reports of Afghanistan’s 1TV that leader of the Taliban’s political wing, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar flew from Doha to Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar on Tuesday. According to Shaheen, Baradar is indeed planning to arrive in Afghanistan, however, it can happen on Tuesday, Wednesday or the next several days.

On April 14, US President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of American troops from the Afghan soil in May, noting that the process would complete by September 11, even though the previous administration of Donald Trump had signed an agreement with the Taliban in Doha in February 11, pledging to withdraw US and allied troops by May 1, 2021. This departure from the original conditions raised outrage in the Taliban who said that they viewed themselves free of the obligations assumed under the Doha agreement. Later, Biden said that the military operation in Afghanistan would be completed even earlier, on August 31.

After the main part of the Western military contingent was pulled out of the country, the radical movement launched a large-scale offensive to establish control over the country. On August 15, Taliban militants entered Kabul without a fight and took over the city in a matter of hours. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down to avoid bloodshed, as he put it, and fled the country. Western states are currently evacuating their citizens and embassy staffers.