KABUL: The war of words between the Taliban and President Donald Trumpescalated on Thursday as the group warned that the US leader had failed tograsp “what type of nation he is dealing with”.
The latest salvo in the bitter exchange comes a day after Trump boastedduring a 9/11 anniversary ceremony that US forces have “hit our enemyharder than they have ever been hit before and that will continue” justdays after peace talks between the two sides collapsed.
“Trump (@realDonaldTrump) must tread carefully,” tweeted Talibanspokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.
“He has yet to grasp the type of nation he is dealing with. His advisersmust make him understand & introduce the Graveyard of Empires #Afghanistanto him.”
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Until this weekend there had been steadily mounting expectations of a dealthat would see the US drawdown troop levels in Afghanistan.
In return, the Taliban would offer security guarantees to keep extremistgroups out.
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But then on Saturday, Trump revealed on Twitter that he had cancelled anunprecedented meeting between the Taliban and himself at Camp David andlater said the talks were “dead”.
The Taliban spokesperson’s tweet comes just hours after the group launcheda suicide attack that killed at least four soldiers near Kabul.
The incident occurred at a special forces base in Char Asiab district justsouth of the capital Kabul where an insurgent driving a car packed withexplosives detonated near the facility’s entrance.
“Four soldiers were killed, and three injured,” said interior ministryspokesperson Nasrat Rahimi.
Afghan special forces — numbering around 17,000 — represent a smallfraction of the 300,000 strong Afghan armed forces but have been carryingout the bulk of offensive operations across Afghanistan in recent years.APP/AFP
