ISLAMABAD Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani on Friday said Pakistan's interferences in Afghanistan's internal affairs "have taken an overt note." "With continued statements by military ruler of Pakistan, these interferences have taken an overt tone, whereby the presence of Pakistani nationals and equipment in the front lines has made its denial impossible," Professor Rabbani said in a statement, released here on the occasion of Afghanistan's Independence Day (August 18).
He regretted that the Afghans were observing the day at "a juncture when a grand part of our country is being trampled under the murky and corrupted feet of the army of ignorance and bigotry, of satanic troops, who continue their wickedness and blood-spilling." Professor Rabbani said: "Our beloved country has become a target from the east and south, the very directions from which previously these ill-hearted souls, amassed at the forefront of the British Army, has attacked us." However, he said: "We shall stand the invasion and will resolutely defend inch upon inch of our homeland." (IRNA)