Kabul, Nov 11 (IANS): The Afghan Taliban Monday lashed out at the upcoming Loya Jirga or grand assembly with regard to the proposed security pact known as Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Kabul and Washington.

In a statement sent to local media outlets, the Taliban outfit said that those who attend the coming Loya Jirga would not be the real representatives of the Afghans, and added that the move was an excuse to prolong the presence of US troops in the country, Xinhua reported.

The proposed Loya Jirga is expected to be attended by tribal elders, notables and government functionaries to take a final decision on the BSA.

Zabihullah Mujahid, who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit, said in the statement, "The Loya Jirga is designed to recommend another 10-year stay of the US invaders in Afghanistan despite the fact that they have killed and detained innocent people and destroyed their properties over the last 12 years."

In the statement, the Taliban also noted that the solution to the Afghan crisis is the unconditional pullout of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

However, a majority of Afghans believe that with total withdrawal of NATO-led troops from Afghanistan, the country would plunge into turmoil.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (name of ousted Taliban regime) believes inking any kind of agreement with the US is against Sharia (Islamic laws)," the purported spokesman, Mujahid, noted in the statement.

"The people of Afghanistan will not accept any strategic agreement with the US, even (if) it gets rubber stamped by a phony Loya Jirga," Mujahid said in the statement, while warning that any person who took part in the gathering would be a target of the Taliban fighters.

According to officials in Kabul, the Jirga is expected to be convened in Kabul city within a week.

The controversial security pact, if inked, would facilitate the US to keep a limited number of its troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 when the NATO-led forces leave the conflict-ridden country.