Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
Abdullah says Taliban shouldn’t miscalculate U.S. Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline and avoid wasting time for negotiation
AT News
KABUL: The Taliban on late Tuesday announced that they would not attend any peace conference until all foreign troops leave Afghanistan. They also refused to attend a summit on Afghanistan’s future to be held in Turkey from April 24 till 4th May in an effort to end the Afghan conflict through a negotiated settlement.
The group made the announcement in response to the U.S. administration of Joe Biden’s stance to pull out U.S. forces by September 11- a timeline similar to the 20th anniversary of the 9/11.
“Until all foreign forces completely withdraw from our homeland, the Islamic Emirate will not participate in any conference that shall make decisions about Afghanistan,” said a spokesman for the insurgent’s political office in Qatar, Mohammad Naeem.
Naeem said in a tweet that the group “performs its works with consultations according to the guidance of the noble religion of Islam and then adopts the stance whatsoever is decided in the result of the consultation.”
The new deadline is breaching the previous deadline agreed on a peace deal between the U.S. and Taliban last year in Doha after over ten rounds of negotiations between the two sides.
Talking to a news conference on Wednesday, chairman of the high council for national reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah said called on the Taliban to not miscalculate the U.S. announcement of troop withdrawal and that the group should not waste time for peace negotiations.
According to the Washington Post, Biden would withdraw troops without considering any condition. The reports said that only some forces would remain in the country to protect the embassy and diplomats.
