KABUL (SW) – The Administrative Office of the President has reacted to a recent remark by the US Secretary of State about the Taliban not targeting American soldiers in Afghanistan.
Dawa Khan Meenapal, deputy spokesman for the president, has said the casualties among foreign forces in Afghanistan have dropped because all the fight in counter-terrorism offensives is carried out by the Afghan forces and the Taliban are now at war with the Afghan people and security froces.
This followed a statement by State Mike Pompeo in which the US Secretary of State called for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. “Our mission in Afghanistan is to eliminate Al-Qaeda and threats to the American homeland. Don’t need 10s of 1,000s of U.S. troops on the ground to do that. We have partners: brave Afghans, @NATO forces. We also have the ability to project power from afar”, the US Secretary of State said in a series of tweets.
He added no U.S. servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan in almost a year, and Afghans are finally discussing peace and reconciliation among themselves. “Logged a lot of air miles to Qatar and Afghanistan and back for talks. Thanks to @MBA_AlThani, @DrabdullahCE , and @ashrafghani for hosting these meetings”, tweeted Pompeo.
This comes days ahead of the resumption of intra-Afghan peace talks in the Qatari capital, Doha in the wake of a surging targeted assassinations and blasts.
ENDS
