Mujahid said at the news conference that the Taliban would not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for attacking other countries, as it was in the years before the terrorist attacks against the United States on Sept 11, 2001.

"Afghanistan's soil is not going to be used against anybody. ... We can assure the international community of that," the spokesman said when asked about the risk of Afghanistan hosting al-Qaida militants.

In another development, Taliban leaders will not stay in the "shadow of secrecy", unlike during the past 20 years when its leaders have lived largely in secret, according to a senior Taliban official, who declined to be identified and was quoted by Reuters.

"Slowly, gradually, the world will see all our leaders, there will be no shadow of secrecy," the official said on Wednesday.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.