8 Subh, Kabul: The National Security Council stated that the signing of a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban was not effective for peace, or for stopping the war and bloodshed in the country.
On the eve of the first anniversary of the signing of the US-Taliban peace agreement, Rahmatullah Andar, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said on Sunday that Afghan government was not consulted while arriving at the agreement. According to Ander, that is why the Doha agreement was not effective for peace and did not stop the bloodshed in the country.
The spokesperson criticized the agreement for using terms that imply immunity and agreement to a part of the war in the country. Rahmatullah Andar said the agreement measures casualties in numbers, and terms such as reducing violence indicate satisfaction with only part of the ongoing war in the country. He also said that the Afghan government was opposed to even an hour of bloodshed in the country. According to him, the protection of Afghanistan is the responsibility of the government, and it therefore looks at issues of peace, war, and other matters from this perspective.
The Doha Agreement was signed between the United States and the Taliban on February 29 last year. The Taliban pledged to sever ties with al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, reduce violence, and engage in meaningful negotiations, but they have been accused of failing to meet their commitments.
In exchange for the Taliban’s commitments, a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan was set. According to the agreement, all foreign troops were to leave Afghanistan in May this year. No decision has yet been made on the withdrawal and presence of foreign troops, including US troops, in Afghanistan. However, some US troops have been withdrawn from Afghanistan.
The United States has made the withdrawal conditional on a reduction in violence and the fulfillment of the Taliban’s commitments. In this light, the United States is examining the Taliban’s commitments under the agreement.
On their part, the Taliban see the implementation of the Doha Agreement as the only solution to the problem in Afghanistan. The group has called on the new US administration to abide by its obligations under the agreement, including the complete withdrawal of foreign troops.
