The United States troops withdrawal from war-torn Afghanistan will be completely done after reaching a peace agreement, special representative for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has on Sunday said.
Khalilzad was quoted by TOLO news agency as saying, “We are seeking peace and a political settlement, not a (forces) withdrawal. We want a peace which will provide the ground for withdrawal.”
The envoy stated it was not true that the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan will happen ahead of a peace deal, according to ANI news reports.
While claiming the US is seeking to put an end to peace mission “responsibly”, the envoy stated: “We learned from the ten USSR experience that withdrawal at that time led to bad happenings in Afghanistan … We don’t want this to be repeated. Therefore, we insist that the four things should happen while the US presence in Afghanistan is relevant to these matters.”
Khalilzad, while describing the Taliban’s announcement of spring offensive across Afghanistan as a “mistake”, said that for the time in the past 18 years, the United Nations security council (UNSC) has condemned such act by the Taliban which never happened in the past, adding, “And this was one of the positive results of our efforts in Afghanistan.”
Khalilzad has paid an official visit to Kabul to attend the sixth round of peace talks with the Taliban. During the last peace talks round held in Doha, Qatar, the Taliban and Washington had agreed over the draft on US forces withdrawal from the war-torn region and counter-terrorism assurances.
On April 15, Khalilzad has said a “ceasefire” between the Taliban and the Kabul government is the fastest way to prevent casualties in war-torn Afghan country.