KABUL/PESHAWAR: Afghanistan said on Tuesday the Taliban would have to bedefeated on the battlefield after Us President Donald Trump rejected theidea of talks with the militants following a series of deadly attacks.
The Taliban reacted to Trump’s announcement by saying they never wanted totalk to the United States anyway, but one senior member of the group saidhe suspected efforts would still be made to get negotiations going.
Talking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump condemned themilitant group for the recent carnage in Kabul and said the United Stateswas not prepared to talk now. He pledged to “finish what we have tofinish”.
His comments suggested he sees a military victory over the Taliban, anoutcome that US military and diplomatic officials say cannot be achievedwith the resources and manpower he has authorised.
A spokesperson for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said while the governmenthad encouraged the Taliban to talk, the attacks in
Kabul, including a suicide bomb attack on Saturday that killed more than100 people, was a “red line”.
“The Taliban have crossed a red line and lost the chance for peace,” saidthe spokesperson, Shah Hussain Murtazawi.
“We have to look for peace on the battlefield. They have to bemarginalised.” He declined to comment directly on Trump’s announcement. ATaliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said they never wanted to holdpeace talks with the United States anyway. Trump last year ordered anincrease in US troops, air strikes and other assistance to Afghan forces.
‘Public consumption’
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said this month thestrategy was working and pushing the insurgents closer to talks. That wasbefore a suicide bomber penetrated the highly guarded centre of Kabul onSaturday and detonated an ambulance laden with explosives, killing morethan 100 people and wounding at least 235.
That attack followed a brazen Taliban assault on the city’sIntercontinental Hotel on January 20, in which more than 20 people,including four Americans, were killed. The Taliban said the attacks were amessage to Trump that his policy of aggression would not work.
Another Taliban member said the United States had been approaching statesthat have relations with the Taliban to try to get them to push theinsurgents to the negotiating table.
“President Trump is saying this for public consumption,” the Talibanmember, who declined to be identified, said of Trump’s rejection of talks.“He and his team are making every effort to bring us to the negotiatingtable.
“Actually, the latest attack in Kabul awakened President Trump and hispuppets in Afghanistan about the capability of the Taliban and theirability to mount big attacks anywhere.”
The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and impose their version ofIslamic rule, refer to the Afghan government as US “puppets”.
The United States believes the Haqqani network, a faction within theTaliban, was behind Saturday’s bomb blast in Kabul. – Agencies