KABUL: The Afghan Taliban said on Wednesday they want to end Afghanistan’swar through dialogue but warned that their willingness to find peace didnot mean they were exhausted and that their armed campaign would besustained no matter how powerful the U.S. opposition.

A more aggressive U.S. strategy in Afghanistan including a surge in airstrikes introduced by President Donald Trump in August has pushed theTaliban back from several district centers and two provincial capitals.

But the militants control large parts of the countryside and have respondedto the more aggressive U.S. strategy with two attacks in Kabul in the pastfew weeks, killing nearly 150 people.

The attacks have toughened both the U.S. and Afghan government stand ontrying to initiate talks to end nearly 17 years of war that neither sideseems capable of winning.

The Taliban offer of dialogue came in a statement addressed to the Americanpeople.

“Our preference is to solve the Afghan issue through peaceful dialogue,”the Taliban said.

In their statement, the Taliban did not mention a Jan. 27 raid on a topKabul hotel, in which more than 30 people were killed, nor a bomb attack ona crowded street a week later that killed more than 100. They claimed bothattacks.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and defeat the U.S.-backedgovernment, said the United States must end its “occupation” and accept theTaliban right to form a government “consistent with the beliefs of ourpeople”.

The militants only mentioned the Afghan government to deride it on variousgrounds.

A government spokesman declined to comment on the statement and a spokesmanfor Afghanistan’s NATO-led military mission was not immediately availablefor comment.

It was not too late for the American people to realize the Taliban cansolve problems with every side “through healthy politics and dialogue”, themilitants said, adding the chances for dialogue were “not exhausted”.

Preliminary talks on ending the war that kills thousands of people eachyear have stalled.

But low-level contacts between the government, international groupsincluding the United Nations and groups close to the Taliban have continuedeven as the insurgency has escalated.

Progress has been blocked by the deep mistrust between the government andthe Taliban, as well as uncertainty about the position of neighborsincluding Pakistan.

The Taliban said their willingness to play a “constructive role in findinga peaceful solution” should not be taken as a sign of weakness.

“This can never mean that we are exhausted or our will has been sapped,”they said.

They said they had no intention to damage any other country or let anyoneuse Afghan territory against anyone else.