KABUL are not honouring their commitments they have held out in the peace pact with America.
The insurgents were continuing to launch attacks, said Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Commander (CENTOM) in a congressional testimony on Tuesday.
“The Taliban need to keep their part of the bargain, and they are continuing attacks,” McKenzie alleged. “They are not directed against coalition forces, they are not occurring in city centers, they are occurring at isolated checkpoints.”
The attacks were not consistent with a movement toward a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan, the Marine general said, adding the violence contradicted Taliban’s undertaking.
The US-Taliban pact, which was signed last month after a week-long partial ceasefire across Afghanistan, does not include an agreement to continue that ceasefire.
Trump administration officials say the withdrawal of the 13,000-strong US military presence in Afghanistan, due to happen over 14 months, would be “conditions-based”.
“We’re going to go to 8,600 by the summer,” McKenzie said. “Conditions on the ground will dictate if we go below that. If conditions on the ground are not permissive, my advice would not be to continue that reduction.”
Also on Tuesday, the UN Security Council pledged unanimous support for the US-Taliban deal on and called for intra-Afghan peace negotiations.
The dialogue, the council said, “must protect the rights of all Afghans, including women, youth and minorities”.
Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman later presented a rosier assessment of the Taliban compliance with the Doha agreement.
“Although there are ups and downs, it has somewhat been holding,” Hoffman said.
sa/mud
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