A Taliban spokesman in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz has called on the international community to increase aid to the country, stressing that Islamist militants are not terrorists.
Taliban spokesman Matiullah Rouhani told the German news agency DPA that the aid could take the form of investment, reconstruction "or any kind of humanitarian aid for the government or the people of Afghanistan."
The Taliban will consider the aid "very welcome," he said.
The Taliban captured Kunduz on August 8 as part of their offensive in the country while the last US troops left Afghanistan in late August, marking the end of a nearly two-decade military mission.
Rouhani criticized the international community for its support of what it called Afghanistan's "corrupt government" for the past 20 years and for stopping aid when the Taliban came to power.
The Taliban have brought peace to Afghanistan, he said, adding "we are not terrorists."
However, he declined to comment on the Taliban's controversial policies regarding women adding that the Taliban believe that all citizens, men and women, have the same value.
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