KABUL: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the leader of the Taliban delegation that has been negotiating with the Kabul government to end the long Afghan war, on Tuesday urged the United States to remain committed to an accord signed with the Taliban in Doha in February 2020.
The administration of then-President Donald Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban early last year calling for the withdrawal of all foreign troops by May in return for the insurgents fulfilling certain security guarantees.
Trump hailed the accord — which did not include the Afghan government — as the end of two decades of war. He reduced US troops to 2,500 in January, the fewest since 2001.
“Now that a year has passed since the signing of the Doha agreement, we urge the American side to remain committed to the full implementation of this accord” Baradar said in a letter.
The letter comes as the Afghan Taliban continue to launch attacks despite promises to reduce violence, a government negotiator said on Tuesday.
“I think based on what was put in the Doha agreement, the Taliban also needed to deliver in terms of reduction of violence, cutting ties with other networks and ensuring that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for terrorists once again,” Fawzia Koofi told Arab News.
Koofi was appointed as an emissary by the Afghan government for the Doha talks which began in September last year.
She said the militants “needed to abandon violence so that no excuse is left for foreign troops to remain in the country.”
“However, even after one year [since Doha agreement], we see that, unfortunately, it is the war that gives foreign troops reasons to be in Afghanistan. If the war continues to happen, the fighting increases, certainly the international troops, including NATO, will have enough reasons to be in Afghanistan,” Koofi said, adding that if the Taliban were sincere in their demands for foreign troops to withdraw from the country, they “need to stop fighting and agree to a cease-fire”.
Since assuming power last month, US President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly said it “will review the controversial accord.”
On Monday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated that the presence of the alliance’s troops in Afghanistan was “conditions-based” and they would “not leave before the time is right.”
“Our common goal is clear. Afghanistan should never again serve as a haven for terrorists to attack our homelands. So, our presence is conditions-based,” Stoltenberg said. “While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, we will not leave before the time is right,” he said during a pre-ministerial press conference.
Meanwhile, Fawad Aman, a spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry, told Arab News despite national forces conducting anti-Taliban operations, Kabul needed assistance from the international community, including NATO and the US
“And we expect that they remain in Afghanistan until the complete annihilation of terrorists,” he said.
A Taliban spokesperson was unavailable for comment when contacted by Arab News on Tuesday.