’No agreement with US so far, fighting to continue,’ say Taliban

An Afghan security personnel stands guard at the site where a Taliban car bomb detonated at the entrance of a police station in Kabul on Aug. 7, 2019. (AFP/File)

• Death toll of American soldiers in Afghanistan this year reaches 16
• Taliban defend surge in violence as “revenge attacks” against American raids

ISLAMABAD: Days after US negotiators announced they were on the “threshold” of a peace agreement with the Taliban in Doha, the Afghan militant group on Saturday defended attacks on American and foreign forces and said the violence would continue until a cease-fire was agreed to.
In a surge of violence that has cast doubt over the near-conclusive peace negotiations between the US and Taliban, the insurgent group stepped up attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in the capital city of Kabul and other areas in Afghanistan in recent days.
“There is no agreement with the Americans that we will not carry out attacks. But when the peace agreement is signed, (we) will honor whatever decisions are made in the agreement,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Arab News on Saturday, in a series of audio messages.
“If the agreement is reached to halt attacks, then (we) will stage no attacks, but there is no such deal with the Americans so far,” he said, and added, “Fighting to continue and we are in a state of war. We show response to the American attacks.”
On Thursday, the NATO-led military alliance said an American soldier and Romanian soldier were killed in action in Kabul, raising the death toll of American soldiers in Afghanistan to 16 this year.
As well as attacks on the northern cities of Kunduz and Pul-e Khumri, the Taliban have carried out two major suicide bombings in the capital Kabul over the past week, as chief US negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, held consultations over the peace agreement.
After showing the draft agreement to President Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan leaders, Khalilzad was back in the Qatari capital on Friday along with General Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan, to continue talks with the Taliban, who said the meeting had gone well.
According to Taliban political spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban and US officials had “positive and excellent progress” in the two days of talks in Qatar with the Taliban political chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, leading the group’s talks with Khalilzad.
Khalilzad has long been demanding a cease-fire, and according to the agreement, a full peace settlement to end more than 18 years of war will depend on subsequent “intra Afghan” talks. But the Taliban have refused to speak to the Afghan civilian government, rejected calls for a cease-fire and instead stepped up operations across the country in what they say, are ‘revenge attacks.”
“The enemy, the Americans, have also continued attacks. You will be aware that they conduct raids in different provinces of the country, on the people, civilian places, markets, mosques, religious schools, clinics, and houses...destroyed in air strikes,” Mujahid said.
“Many Afghans, including children and women, are martyred and the Americans are directly involved in these incidents. Their aircraft, their soldiers are involved. We will carry out revenge attacks when they launch attacks,” the Taliban spokesman said.
On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that after the surge in violence, Washington would not accept just any deal while it was seeking a political agreement with the Taliban.
Presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi tweeted on Wednesday that Kabul has concerns about the outcome of the Taliban-US agreement on how to “counter the possible dangers after the US-Taliban deal.”
As Afghan society reels from the aftermaths of the attacks, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is set to travel to Washington in the next week to meet with US officials, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.
Last month, the Afghan government announced the formation of a 15 member team for intra-Afghan talks, but their names have not yet been made public.