KABUL - A spokesman for the Taliban insurgent group on Monday reiterated that the group will not negotiate with the Afghan government even after an agreement with the U.S. administration.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar made the announcement on Monday in an online post.
“After the timeline of the withdrawal of the foreign forces announced at the presence of the international witnesses, the intra-Afghan dialogue will be started but we will not talk with Kabul administration as a government,” Shaheen said.
The U.S. and Taliban representatives are negotiating behind closed doors in Doha, the capital of Qatar during the last three days.
These remarks come a day after the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that direct talks with the Taliban is expected to happen in another two weeks in Germany.
The Taliban has repeatedly rejected holding talks with the Afghan government; though, the U.S. chief negotiator Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has told that all talks will be based on the principle of “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” (ATN)