Taliban negotiating team says Afghan govt unwilling to accept US peace deal

The Afghan government is unwilling to accept the terms of a peace deal signed between the Taliban and the United States, Khairullah Khairkhwa, a member of the terrorist group's negotiating team at the intra-Afghan peace talks, told the Afghan-based Nunn. Asia website on Sunday.

"We are saying that our main point is that we have entered into these intra-Afghan negotiations on the basis of an agreement reached with the United States. But they say do not mention this agreement, our talks with you have just started," Khairkhwa remarked.

Citing the lack of dialogue between the government and the Taliban for the preceding two decades, Khairkhwa stated that Kabul is reluctant to recognise the February 29 deal signed by the United States and the militant group.

"The real controversy is that the Afghan government is reluctant to accept that intra-Afghan negotiations are underway as a result of the Taliban's deal with the United States," the member of the negotiating team said.

The United States and the Taliban signed a peace deal on February 29 that paved the way for the beginning of intra-Afghan talks upon the conclusion of a prisoner exchange process.

After months of delays, the peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban began on September 12 in the Qatari capital of Doha, although an uptick in violence has been observed in Afghanistan since the talks began.

-ANI

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