Washington 18 August : The US has declared that it does not believe that the Taliban have the capability of keeping the promises they made in Doha when they signed an agreement for peace with American negotiators, media reported. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the slain Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul “reinforces the notion that the Taliban have not been able or willing to follow through with the promises it has made to its citizens”, Dawn news reported
In February 2020 in February 2020, the US and the Taliban reached a peace deal in the Qatari capital, bringing an end to the war between 2001 and 2021 in Afghanistan.
The agreement eventually resulted in the withdraw of US troops from Afghanistan on August 15, 2021.
“The fact that the top members of the Haqqani Taliban Network were witting off Ayman al Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul and actively shielded him in Kabul, which of course has been a part of our thoughts,” Dawn news quoted Price as saying.
“We’re still pondering the implications of this”.
In the State Department briefing, a journalist mentioned that on July 27th, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West met a Taliban delegation in Tashkent.
Even then it was clear that the US knew that Zawahiri lived in Kabul under Taliban protection.
Price stated that this was the only face-to-face encounter the US has had with the Taliban.
“You will understand the secret with the plans were viewed by the US government.It’s not something was discussed with the Taliban, of course, prior to the time,” he added.
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