They seriously thought 'Zabihullah' was a made-up figure, jokes Taliban spokesman on US presence

As the Taliban take greater control over Afghanistan's affairs, Taliban's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid revealed that he lived in Kabul all along during the US presence in the capital as he casually remarked, "They used to think I did not exist".

"I escaped so many times from their raids and attempts to capture me that they seriously considered that "Zabihullah" was a made-up figure, not a real man who exists," the elated Taliban spokesman said while taking a dig at the US forces.

Mujahid said he managed to move around "freely" in Afghanistan despite thousands of US and NATO forces deployed in the country.

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The Taliban spokesman said he roamed freely across the "width and breadth of the country" including "first-hand access to the frontlines" where the Taliban was engaged including what he described as getting "up to date information". 

"It was quite puzzling for our adversaries," the Taliban spokesman joked. Zabihullah added that he never once thought of leaving Afghanistan even though "US forces would often pay off locals to obtain some information". 

The Taliban spokesman added that he specialised in Islamic jurisprudence from the Haqqania seminary in northwest Pakistan.

In an interesting bit of information, Mujahid said he had never seen the reclusive Taliban founder Mullah Umar.

(With inputs from Agencies)