Purported Taliban Audiotape Urges Jihad

A recorded voice, purportedly of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, admonished guerrillas who have abandoned a jihad, or holy war, against foreign troops and urged renewed resistance, two years after U.S.-led troops drove him from power.

“I sacrificed my rule and all I had ... why can’t you? If you can’t stand for your honor, it means your faith is weak,” the voice said.

The tape was handed to a reporter in the southern town of Spin Buldak by unidentified men on a motorbike. Mullah Abdul Sama, a Taliban spokesman, said it was made in the last few weeks.