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KABUL: The Taliban group has denied the reports leaked on media about the U.S. discussion with the group to forge a new deadline to prolong Washington’s military presence in Afghanistan.
Former Chief of National Directorate of Security, Rahmatullah Nabil earlier in a series of tweets said that the U.S. discusses a new deadline for troop’s withdrawal with the Taliban.
“The U.S. will ask the Taliban and Pakistan to accept the delay of troops withdrawal for six months, and the extension of six months is likely to happen,” Nabil said.
But Mohammad Naeem Wardak, the Taliban spokesman in Qatar, where the militants maintain a political office, denied the reports and hinted that the U.S. has not asked for such a plan.
A former member of the Taliban regime, Sayed Akbar Agha also confirmed the Taliban’s spokesman’s remarks, saying the group would never agree to this demand.
He suggested the U.S. better to withdraw troops based on the deadline agreed in a peace deal signed between the U.S. and the group on February 29, 2020.
“I don’t think the Americans will leave Afghanistan on due time, they will make a new excuse,” he added. “But it is better for the international community to monitor the Americans withdrawal from Afghanistan on time.”
Under the February deal, the U.S. is called to withdraw all troops by May1; in return the Taliban are stipulated to cut ties with other terrorist groups in the region. The deal also laid out the intra-Afghan negotiation between the Afghan government and Taliban.
The U.S. department of Defense announced last January that the number of American service members dropped to 2,500 in Afghanistan, the lowest number of troops since the U.S. and allies entered the country.
However, some reports published by the American media outlets revealed that the troop numbers in Afghanistan are more than it was announced by the Pentagon.
