Former Taliban leader calls for help to drive out US

Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar today called on Afghanistan's neighbours to help his militants oust the government of President Hamid Karzai and force foreign troops out of the country.

Omar's message - the authenticity of which could not be immediately confirmed - said "neighbours should help Afghans drive Western forces from Afghanistan as they helped them during the Soviet Union invasion".

"They should abandon any kind of support and understand that they (Western forces) are a danger to the whole region," said Omar's statement, posted on a website that previously carried militant messages.

It was unclear when it was posted, though it included greetings for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which is expected to start tomorrow.

Afghanistan is going through its most violent period since the Taliban's ousting in the US-led invasion in 2001. More than 5,100 people - mostly militants - have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year.

The Taliban often compare their struggle with the war against the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, when neighbouring Pakistan and Iran - helped by the US and Saudi Arabia - armed the anti-communist mujahedeen.

Some observers accuse rogue elements in Pakistan's security forces of supporting today's Afghan rebels, and US officials recently raised the alarm about Iranian weapons reaching the Taliban.

Islamabad and Tehran deny any involvement.

Karzai has offered peace talks with the militants and even positions in the government. But the Taliban and warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the militant group Hezb-i-Islami, have rejected the overtures, saying international troops must first leave the country.

In his internet statement, Omar said Karzai's offers were the result of the Taliban's resilience on the battlefield. He said Western forces should end "satanic" policies, including airstrikes that kill civilians, and withdraw.

But he also called on his fighters to be mindful of civilians during combat, suggesting the bloodshed is sapping support also for the militants among ordinary Afghans.

Insurgents often launch attacks from civilian homes and a constant stream of suicide attacks are killing far more civilians than Afghan or foreign troops.

Omar went into hiding after the Taliban regime was toppled. Afghan officials have said he is hiding in the Pakistani city of Quetta. Pakistan says he is in Afghanistan.