Taliban said on Friday that peace cannot return to Afghanistan until invasion of the war-ravaged country ends.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen was reacting to US President Donald Trump’s comments that the US troops will remain in Afghanistan after deal with the Taliban.
Trump said in reported comments on Thursday that the US plans to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan from 14,000 to 8,600.
Controversy over troop withdrawal surfaced at a time when the Taliban and the US are believed to be closer to a peace deal in talks being held in Qatar.
Spokesman denies purported draft of peace agreement between Taliban and US
Taliban insist the US has already agreed on a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and in return Taliban will ensure they will not allow Afghan soil to be used against the US and its allies.
Shaheen told BBC Pashto radio that they are holding talks with the US negotiators to ‘end invasion of Afghanistan’. “We have rendered sacrifices to force the Taliban and international forces quit Afghanistan and we will not compromise on this issue,” he was quoted as saying.
Taliban and the US officials could not finalise agreement until Friday morning on eighth day of talks in the current round despite high hopes by both the sides to make the deal ready for signing.
Sources said US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad plans to visit Kabul soon to brief Afghan leaders on progress in talks with the Taliban. They said Khalilzad is also likely to visit Pakistan and Brussels after the Kabul trip.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied a purported draft of peace agreement between the Taliban and the US posted online by a section of Afghan media.
Spogmai radio, which is owned by Karim Khurram, former chief of staff to Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai, has published what it claimed the US-Taliban agreement on its website.
The draft says the US has committed to withdraw all military personnel, advisors and contractors unconditionally and Taliban pledged that Afghan soil will not be used against any country and they will not interfere in affairs of other countries.
