As the US contemplates future actions in Afghanistan, a new problem has emerged wherein the Taliban has refused to cooperate with the United States to contain extremist groups in Afghanistan including the Islamic State (IS) which claimed responsibility for some recent terror attacks.
At the same time, the Taliban has warned the US not to “destabilise” the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal.
The Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said, Mr Muttaqi’s comments come as the Taliban attempt to re-establish their rule in Afghanistan, 20 years after the hardline Islamists were driven out by the US-led invasion.
“We clearly told them that trying to destabilise the government in Afghanistan is good for no one,” Mr Muttaqi told the Afghan state news agency Bakhtar after talks in Qatar capital Doha.
“Good relations with Afghanistan are good for everyone. Nothing should be done to weaken the existing government in Afghanistan which can lead to problems for the people,” he said in a recorded statement translated by AFP.
This statement comes just days ahead of the meeting between the senior US and Taliban officials in Qatar’s Doha next week as officials from both sides have said issues include reining in extremist groups and the evacuation of foreign citizens and Afghans from the country will be discussed.
The Taliban which is in dire need of international aid has signaled flexibility on evacuations, reports Indian Express. However, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen has told the Associated Press that they wouldn’t be cooperating with the US to go after the IS.
Shaheen made it very clear that “We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” and will not tolerate American any over the horizon drone strikes in his country.
Several terrorist attacks in Afghanistan have taken place in the last couple of months and the most recent is the suicide bombing that killed 46 minority Shiite Muslims and wounded dozens as they prayed in a mosque which IS claimed responsibility for a recent.
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