DOHA - The Taliban’s political chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, warned on Sunday that the group “would make the necessary decisions” if the US failed to leave Afghanistan within the timeline agreed to earlier this year.
In an interview with Iran’s Tasnim news agency, Baradar said the US-Taliban agreement, signed earlier this year in Doha, stipulated the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan within a 14-month timeline.
The results of the implementation of the Doha agreement with the US have been positive so far. In the first stage, the US announced it has evacuated five military bases, and the number of American troops has been reduced to 8,600, as this process continues,” he told Tasnim.
“However, if the foreign forces do not leave Afghanistan on schedule, the Islamic Emirate will make the necessary decisions,” the Taliban’s political chief warned.
On intra-Afghan talks for the peace process in Afghanistan, Baradar underlined that there is no hidden agreement between the group and the US.
Intra-Afghan talks are expected to start in the near future but no date has yet been set.
However, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad started a five-nation trip on Friday. His first stop was Doha.
In Kabul and Doha, Khalilzad will press for resolution of the remaining issues ahead of the intra-Afghan negotiations, specifically final prisoner exchanges and reduced violence, according to a statement by the US Department of State. (ATN)