US President Donald Trump cancelled secret negotiations with Taliban leaders on Saturday after the group claim responsibility for a recent attack in Kabul that claimed the lives of a US soldier and 11 others. The Taliban slammed Trump’s decision and warned that it “will lead to more losses to the US,” adding that “its credibility will be affected, its anti-peace stance will be exposed to the world, losses to lives and assets will increase.”
On Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged that the US-Taliban peace talks were dead “for the time being.” Pompeo stated that the US will not withdraw troops from Afghanistan until it is convinced that the Taliban will hold up their end of a potential peace deal.
Last week, the United States and the Taliban reached an agreement “in principle” to end the war in Afghanistan after 18 years of fighting. The agreement, which still required the approval of Trump, stated that the US would withdraw 5,400 of the almost 14,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan. The pullout would be completed within 135 days if the Taliban made sure that Afghanistan would not serve as a launchpad for terror attacks against US targets.
Read more: More Americans will die after Trump abruptly ends Afghan talks, Taliban say
