The Afghan Taliban are not meeting the promises they made in the peaceagreement with the United States, including reducing violence and cuttingties with Al-Qaeda, the Pentagon said.

[image: Taliban have ‘not met their commitments’ in Afghan peace deal:Pentagon – World – Dunya News]

“We are still involved in trying to get a negotiated settlement. TheTaliban have not met their commitments,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

Kirby said the new administration of President Joe Biden remains committedto the February 2020 peace agreement set in Qatar between the United Statesand the Afghan insurgent group.

That agreement required the Taliban to halt attacks on US forces, sharplydecrease the level of violence in the country, and advance peace talks withthe government in Kabul.

In return, the United States would steadily reduce its force level in thecountry, and remove all forces by May 2021.

Kirby said there is “no change” to the US commitments made in the peacedeal.

However, he said, “the Taliban are not meeting their commitments to reduceviolence, and to renounce their ties to Al-Qaeda.”

Much depends on whether the Taliban and the Afghan government can negotiatea peace settlement, he said told reporters in a briefing at the Pentagon.

“I would say this to the leaders of the Taliban, that… they make it thatmuch more difficult for final decisions to be made about force presence bytheir reticence to commit to reasonable, sustainable and crediblenegotiations at the table,” he said.