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Trump Says Washington Working with Taliban to Reach Peace Agreement
“You know we’re pulling way down in Afghanistan. We’re working on an agreement now with the Taliban,” Trump told Fox News on Friday. “Let’s see what happens.”
His comments come days after the Taliban released two foreign professors, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, in exchange for the release of three Taliban prisoners. In addition, the insurgent group released 10 Afghan soldiers following the release of their prisoners by Afghan government.
“Let’s hope this leads to more good things on the peace front like a cease-fire that will help end this long war,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
The U.S. and Taliban negotiators held at least 10 rounds of formal talks for a yearlong until they reached an agreement “in principle”. However, Trump abruptly called of the talks after Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul that killed several Afghans including an American soldier.
“The last time I was supposed to have an agreement, then they [Taliban] thought when they came over, they thought it would be good to kill people so they could negotiate from a position of strength,” Trump told Fox News while explaining his decision of calling off the U.S.-Taliban talks.
Meanwhile, the Head of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) Shaharzad Akbar calls for respecting the rights of war victims when the government is agrees to a prisoner swap.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office said in a statement that “President Trump insisted on a ceasefire as precondition before negotiations”.
By Hesamuddin Hesam