NEW DELHI, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- India has denied a claim by a Taliban envoy that senior Indian military officers have joined US forces to help Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance fight the ruling Islamic militia.
Pakistani newspapers Thursday quoted the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, as saying that Indian, Russian and US officers were guiding Northern Alliance commanders in northern Afghanistan.
"We are denying the insinuation made by the Taliban envoy. There is no Indian officer involved in the fighting as alleged by the Taliban spokesman," Press Trust of India quoted a senior Indian defense official said.
The reports quoted Zaeef as saying that Indian officers of the rank of general and brigadier were involved. "That is why they have started war on many fronts," he said.
Zaeef spoke to Pakistani newspaper editors at a dinner meeting Wednesday night, a few hours after Islamabad asked him to stop spitting venom against the United States in his daily press briefings.
