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The Taliban on Monday warned Turkey against keeping some of its troops in Afghanistan to run and guard Kabul airport after US and NATO forces withdraw next month, saying that any country choosing to do so would be treated as an “occupier,” Arab News reported. 

It is noted that Turkey has more than 500 troops in Afghanistan as part of a non-combat NATO mission, with some soldiers training security forces and others serving at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

“Turkey has been in Afghanistan for the past 20 years with NATO, and if it wants to remain now, without any doubt, we regard it as an occupier and will act against it,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban,is quoted as saying by Arab News.

As NATO’s only Muslim member, Turkey’s noncombat troops have rarely been attacked by the Taliban or other insurgent groups in Afghanistan, with Mujahid saying the Taliban “always wanted to forge good relations” with Turkey and “endeavored to have normal ties.”