KABUL: The Taliban on Monday directed Afghans to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections and demanded an entire withdrawal of international forces as the one resolution to finish the 17-year-old battle as they ramped up assaults in strategic provinces.
The assertion from the Taliban coincided with the go to of prime US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been appointed to guide peace efforts with the Taliban.
Khalilzad met President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul to debate methods to carry Afghan-led peace talks with the Taliban, whose 1996-2001 rule was ended by US-led troops.
“Peace is a holy course of, and the US authorities and individuals are united with the Afghan authorities and folks on this course of,” Khalilzad was quoted by Ghani’s workplace in an announcement as saying.
Khalilzad, an Afghan-born former US ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, joined the US State Department group in September.
He’s scheduled to go to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week as he seeks to carry the Taliban to the negotiating desk. However the Taliban have repeatedly rejected presents to carry peace talks or assist the polls.
The Oct 20 vote, seen by worldwide companions as a dry run for presidential elections subsequent yr, has been hampered by chaotic preparations, allegations of fraud and ever-present fears of militant violence.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s important spokesman, mentioned the US was utilizing the elections for the only function of legitimising their presence and authority.
On Monday a ministry of defence assertion mentioned Afghan forces had killed greater than 120 Taliban fighters and different militants throughout 20 operations, together with 17 air strikes in varied components of the nation.
Greater than 30 Taliban fighters have been wounded in air strikes performed in Ghazni, Kandahar, Farah and Faryab provinces.
Our correspondent provides: As the US entered the 18th yr of its army presence in Afghanistan on Monday, Taliban insurgents killed 54 folks throughout the nation, whereas in Washington commentators urged the Trump administration to outline an exit technique.
The USA wants “a realistic, workable exit technique from Afghanistan”, says Robert A. Manning, who labored for greater than 12 years as a coverage planner for the US Division and the Nationwide Intelligence Council.
“[Exit] is the least dishonourable method for the US to show the web page and step out of the graveyard that, from the time of Alexander, has buried empires,” he wrote in a chunk printed within the Overseas Coverage journal on Monday.
Revealed in, October ninth, 2018