MONITORING (SW) – The Pentagon said Thursday that the Biden administration would not commit to a full drawdown of troops from Afghanistan by May because the Taliban have not honored the commitments they made in their deal with the United States.
“The Taliban have not met their commitments,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said at a news briefing. “Without them meeting their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks on the Afghan national security forces, and by dint of that the Afghan people, it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement.”
Kirby told reporters the US remains committed to working toward that negotiated settlement between the Taliban and the Afghan governments, the CNN reported.
His comments echoed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani earlier Thursday that there was “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.”
The intra-Afghan negotiations opened in September but have progressed slowly. The two sides agreed to the rules and procedures for the talks in December and reconvened after a break in early January, it added.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, the main negotiator on the US deal with the Taliban, has said the goals of the intra-Afghan talks are “a political road map and a comprehensive ceasefire.” The Biden administration has kept Khalilzad in his role.
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