Taliban urges Biden to ensure implementation of Doha agreement
Kabul, Nov 10 (efe-epa).- The Taliban in Afghanistan on Tuesday urged the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, to adhere to the Doha agreement signed by the Trump Administration for complete withdrawal of foreign troops from the war-torn country.
In the agreement reached between the US and the insurgents in the Qatari capital of Doha in February, Washington agreed for a full withdrawal of troops in 14 months in return for security guarantees that Afghan soil would not be used for attacks against foreign countries, particularly the US.
“The Islamic Emirate (a name the insurgents use to call themselves) would like to stress to the new American president-elect and future administration that implementation of the (Doha) agreement is the most reasonable and effective tool for ending the conflict between both our countries,” Taliban said in their first official reaction to the US elections.
The Taliban underlined that they were seeking to build and maintain positive relations with “all countries of the world” including the US in the future.
The Taliban described the Doha agreement as an “an excellent document” to end the war in Afghanistan, and called for a complete “withdrawal of all US forces,” while promising not to allow the country to be used for activities against the US as it was in the interest of both nations.
“We remain committed to the agreement on our part and view it as a powerful basis for solving the Afghan issue, and we also give preference to solving our internal problems through dialogue and negotiations,” the statement said.
The rebels’ call for the implementation of the Doha agreement comes a day after the Afghan government urged Biden to “review and re-evaluate” the Afghan peace process with the Taliban after taking office in order to resolve existing problems.
Biden is expected to be sworn-in as the next president of the US on Jan. 20, 2021.
While the Taliban have stressed on a peaceful solution of the Afghan war, in recent weeks they have drastically increased violence and attacks on Afghan security forces across the country.
Over the past 24 hours, the group has carried out two car bombings against bases of the Afghan forces in the southwestern Helmand province and in northern Faryab province, respectively.
In these two attacks, at least six Taliban attackers and five members of the security forces were killed and 20 others including eight civilians were injured, according to officials.
These attacks come at a sensitive time when representatives of the Taliban and the government have been holding peace talks in Doha since early September to end two decades of war in the country in line with the agreement between the US and the insurgents. EFE-EPA
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