Afghan peace talks: ‘Talks with Taliban completely ended’
US President Donald Trump says talks with the Taliban to end the 18-year-long war in Afghanistan have ended (dead).
Speaking to media representatives at the White House on Monday, the US president said, “As far as I’m concerned, these (talks) have ended.”
He added that ‘our meeting (secret meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David) was scheduled. The idea of calling a meeting was also mine and canceling it. Until now, I had not discussed it with anyone else. ‘
President Trump said, “I canceled the Camp David meeting because they (the Taliban) did something they should not do at all.”
It should be remembered that the US and the Afghan Taliban were seemingly close last week to a peace deal in Afghanistan, but the matter has been cut short after an attack in Kabul.
The Taliban attack in Kabul killed 12 people, including an American soldier, after the US president announced on September 8 that the talks with the Taliban would be canceled.
President Trump said: ‘How are these people who kill people to strengthen their bargaining position?’
In another tweet, he said that the Taliban had claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack for false interests. How many more decades do they want to fight? ‘
Donald Trump not only canceled a secret meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David after the US soldier was killed in Afghanistan, but also announced the cancellation of a scheduled meeting with the Afghan president last Sunday.
Reacting to the aftermath of the Kabul attack, the US president said that if the Taliban cannot make a ceasefire, it means they lack the ability to negotiate a meaningful deal.
It should be noted that the ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban representatives in the Qatar capital Doha have come to an end.
The Afghan government said in a statement in response to the cancellation of the talks that they were committed to lasting peace. He called on the US government to work with them to establish peace.
After US President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of peace talks with the Taliban, the Taliban had said in response that the United States would be “most likely to lose the negotiations.”
According to BBC correspondent Khudai Noor Nasir, a statement issued by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in response to the US president’s statement said that he was in talks with the US negotiating team to formalize the peace deal until Saturday. While preparations for the announcement were busy, September 23 marked the first day of inter-Afghan talks.
The Taliban said, “Now that the US president has announced the cancellation of talks with the Islamic Emirate, the biggest loss will be to the United States itself; Will see and the loss of their lives and property will be greater. ‘
According to the proposed peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban, about 5,000 American troops will leave Afghanistan in 20 weeks in exchange for security guarantees by the Taliban.
There are currently about 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan.
Since the US invasion in 2001, nearly 3500 members of the international coalition have been killed in Afghanistan so far, of which more than 2300 are US troops.
On the other hand, it is difficult to estimate the number of Afghan civilians, militants and government forces killed in this war. The UN said in a February 2019 report that more than 32,000 Afghan civilians have been killed in the war so far.
Meanwhile, according to the Watson Institute at Brown University, 58,000 security personnel and 42,000 opposition fighters have been killed in the war.
It should be noted that the ongoing negotiations between the United States and the Taliban were to begin inter-Afghan talks shortly after the signing of the peace agreement, including ceasefire, future political systems of Afghanistan, constitutional amendments, government partnerships and the future of Taliban fighters. Includes discussions on issues.