KABUL: The US military in Afghanistan Saturday urged warring parties to “return to the political path” in a rare open letter to the Taliban as a surge in violence risks shattering a hoped-for peace process.
In a two-page letter to the Taliban, US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said “all sides” must show restraint to prevent further bloodshed.
“If the violence cannot be reduced then yes, there will be responses,” Leggett wrote in a letter to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
“All sides must also return to the political path... Afghans should sit down now and begin talking about the future of Afghanistan together.”
The letter came after General Scott Miller, who leads US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, on April 28 warned the Taliban of potential consequences to continued violence.
Under the terms of a US-Taliban deal signed February 29, the Taliban committed to stop striking US and foreign partner troops, and agreed to start peace talks with the Kabul administration following an exchange of prisoners.
In return, the US and other foreign troops will leave Afghanistan within 14 months of the deal signing.
The US agreed not to attack the Taliban, though it has reserved the right to hit them to support Afghan forces if they come under attack.
The Taliban also verbally committed to reduce violence by as much as 80 percent, Leggett said, and to halt attacks on urban areas. Instead, there has been a “drastic increase” in violence, he noted.
While the Taliban have refrained from hitting coalition forces and cities, they returned to the battlefield the moment the deal was signed and have been unleashing an average of 55 attacks a day on Afghan forces, according to Afghan officials.
Meanwhile the prisoner swap has stalled as the Afghan government frets about releasing hard-line Taliban members who will return to the fight.
In a short response to Leggett’s letter, Mujahid scolded the US for making “provocative statements.”
“We are committed to our end, honor your own obligations,” Mujahid wrote on Twitter.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants American troops home, and the Taliban realize that as long as they don’t hit American or foreign troops, there are few consequences for continued attacks, experts say.
US military warns of ‘responses’ if Taliban violence continues
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US military warns of ‘responses’ if Taliban violence continues
- US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said “all sides” must show restraint to prevent further bloodshed
- Under the terms of a US-Taliban deal signed February 29, the Taliban committed to stop striking US and foreign partner troops, and agreed to start peace talks with the Kabul administration
‘Keep dreaming’: NATO chief says Europe can’t defend itself without US
BRUSSELS: NATO chief Mark Rutte warned Monday Europe cannot defend itself without the United States, in the face of calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland.
US President Donald Trump roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous Danish territory — before backing off after talks with Rutte last week.
The diplomatic crisis sparked gave fresh momentum to those advocating for Europe to take a tougher line against Trump and break its military reliance on Washington.
“If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US — keep on dreaming. You can’t,” Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.
He said that EU countries would have to double defense spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to 10 percent and spend “billions and billions” on building nuclear arms.
“You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,” Rutte said. “So hey, good luck.”
The former Dutch prime minister insisted that US commitment to NATO’s Article Five mutual defense clause remained “total,” but that the United States expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.
“They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the US has every interest in NATO,” he said.
The NATO head reiterated his repeated praise for Trump for pressuring reluctant European allies to step up defense spending.
He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU’s defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius earlier this month for a possible European defense force that could replace US troops on the continent.
“It will make things more complicated. I think Putin will love it. So think again,” Rutte said.
On Greenland, Rutte said he had agreed with Trump that NATO would “take more responsibility for the defense of the Arctic,” but it was up to Greenlandic and Danish authorities to negotiate over US presence on the island.
“I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn’t, and I will not,” he said.
Rutte reiterated that he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan after the US leader caused outrage by playing down their contribution.
“For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,” he said.
“I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts.”
