Afghanistan’s militant group Taliban on Tuesday called on the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden to stick to the February agreement to withdraw US troops.
The United States has been pulling out troops under the deal which envisages the withdrawal to be complete by May, subject to certain security guarantees, while the Taliban hold peace talks with the Afghan government in Doha, according to Reuters.
In its first substantive comment on the results of the United States presidential election, the militant group said in a statement that it would like to stress to the new American president-elect and future administration that implementation of the agreement is the most reasonable and effective tool for ending the conflict between both countries.
However, violence has been ramping up throughout the country with the Taliban attacking provincial capitals, in some case prompting United States airstrikes, as talks in Qatar’s capital have been mired in delays.
Groups such as the United Nations have also raised questions over Al-Qaeda with a senior UN official telling the BBC last month that the group were still “heavily embedded” with the Taliban.
Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said on Tuesday they had killed a senior regional Al-Qaeda member in southwestern Afghanistan, accusing the Taliban of harboring him.
Under the deal with the United States, signed in February, the Taliban agreed to cut ties with international militant groups including Al-Qaeda.
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security said in a statement they had killed the Al-Qaeda leader during an operation in Afghanistan’s Farah Province where he was “given a safe haven and protection” by the Taliban.
US President Donald Trump made ending the war in Afghanistan a major campaign promise and said in a Tweet in October that troops could be out of Afghanistan by Christmas, though officials such as his national security advisor have said that they were working to the May 2021 deadline.