-Taliban says US ‘bombarding civilians, houses’ in dealviolation
-US reviewing Taliban commitment to peacedeal, Blinken tells Ghani
DM Monitoring
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration will send a team to Kabul for consulations on efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Friday.
“The United States is going to send a team to Kabul. We’ll also be talking by videoconference on how to energize the peace process,” Ghani said in an online program sponsored by the Aspen Institute.
Meanwhile, Taliban has accused the United States of violating a landmark deal signed between the two sides, after the Pentagon said the group had failed to meet its side of the agreement.
“The other side have violated the agreement, almost every day they are violating it,” Mohammad Naeem, a Taliban spokesman in Qatar, told media on Friday.
“They are bombarding civilians, houses and villages, and we have informed them from time to time, these are not just violations of the agreement but violations of human rights.”
The US military has in recent months carried out air strikes against the Taliban fighters in defence of Afghan forces in some provinces. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid added on Twitter that the allegations against the group were “unfounded” and that it was “fully committed” to the agreement.
The Pentagon on Thursday said Taliban’s refusal to meet commitments to reduce violence in Afghanistan is raising questions about whether all US troops will be able to leave by May as required under the peace agreement signed in February 2020. The agreement, signed in Doha last year, required the Taliban to halt attacks on US forces, sharply decrease the level of violence in the country, and advance peace talks with the government in Kabul.
In return, the US would steadily reduce its troop levels in the country, and remove all forces by May this year.
Former President Donald Trump ordered US troops level in Afghanistan cut to 2,500 just days before he left office earlier this month, presenting successor Joe Biden with difficult decisions about how to retain leverage against the Taliban in support of peace talks.
Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby said the US stands by its commitment for a full troops withdrawal, but the agreement also calls for the Taliban to cut ties with al-Qaeda and reduce violence.
“Without them meeting their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks against the Afghan National Security Forces, it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement,” Kirby said. “But we’re still committed to that.”
White House and State Department officials have made it clear the Biden administration plans to take a new look at the peace agreement.
The White House said Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told his Afghan counterpart in a phone call last Friday that the new administration will “review” the deal.
The newly installed Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the administration wanted to take a detailed look to “understand exactly what is in the agreement” before deciding how to proceed.
Taliban representatives and the Afghan government earlier this month resumed peace talks in Qatar – the Gulf state where the armed group maintains an office – aimed at ending decades of conflict.
But frustration and fear have grown over a recent spike in violence, and both sides blame the other.
Ghani, Blinken talks: In his first telephone call to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration was reviewing the US-Taliban peace deal and the insurgents’ commitment to the agreement.
On Thursday afternoon, the State Department issued a readout of the Blinken-Ghani conversation, which reiterates the new US administration’s commitment to an enduring US-Afghanistan partnership.
The Secretary “shared that the United States is reviewing the February 2020 US-Taliban agreement and whether the Taliban are living up to their commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in Afghanistan, and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other stakeholders,” the statement read.
“He highlighted robust diplomatic support for the peace process focused on helping the parties to the conflict achieve a durable and just political settlement and permanent and comprehensive ceasefire that benefits all Afghans,” it added.
The deal, signed by the former US administration in February 2020, aims at ending almost 20 years of war in Afghanistan and includes a formula for withdrawing all American troops from the war-ravaged country by May this year.
But the agreement also includes several conditions — such as ending Taliban attacks on US and Afghan targets — that need to be fulfilled before the withdrawal. The US-backed government in Kabul has expressed reservations about the Trump administration’s commitment to withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
According to the statement released on Thursday, Blinken reiterated his desire for all Afghan leaders to support this historic opportunity for peace while preserving the progress made over the last 20 years regarding human rights, civil liberties, and the role of women in Afghan society.
“The Secretary committed to consultations with the government of Afghanistan, Nato allies, and international partners regarding a collective strategy to support a stable, sovereign, democratic, and secure future for Afghanistan,” the statement added.
The Biden administration has on multiple occasions stated that while it hoped to achieve peace in Afghanistan, it will review the peace deal signed with the Taliban, focusing on whether the insurgent group has reduced attacks in Afghanistan, in keeping with its side of the agreement.
The US had committed to reducing the number of its troops in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days of signing the deal, and working with its allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over the same period. Currently, there are 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan. But violence across Afghanistan has surged despite the two sides engaging in those talks since September.
