The Afghan Taliban rejected a proposal that would result in U.S. forces being withdrawn from the war-torn nation in five years, posing a serious setback to the efforts aimed at ending America’s longest war through negotiations.
The rebel group wants foreign troops to leave the country within a year, according to two former Taliban leaders. The U.S. and the insurgents resumed peace talks on Saturday after a two-day break for internal deliberations, but five rounds of discussions haven’t yielded a breakthrough on the timeline for a withdrawal nor has it elicited a pledge from the Taliban to stop terrorists from using the country as a base.
The timeline will give the U.S. “a justification to show to the world they weren’t defeated like the Soviets and suddenly left Afghanistan,” Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban leader, who lives in Kabul and has been in touch with the militant group’s negotiators in Doha, said in an interview. But the Taliban rejected the proposal, he said. Maulavi Qalamuddin, another ex-Taliban leader, echoed Agha’s comments.
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
Taliban tellin the US we dont want you to have an excuses on the way out
