'More Losses To American Lives': Taliban On Trump’s Decision To Call Off Peace Talks

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid criticized Trump’s decision and said that the US forces have been pounding Afghanistan with attacks at the same time.

US President Donald Trump

New Delhi: After US President Donald Trump decided to call off peace talks with the Taliban, the angered outfit said that the decision will cost more American lives, as the US promised to keep up military pressure on the militants. In a statement issued hours after Trump unexpectedly reverse the efforts to forge a deal which would end 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the Taliban termed Trump’s decision as “unbelievable", asserting that his "disappointing" tweets "damaged his credibility". Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid criticized Trump’s decision and said that the US forces have been pounding Afghanistan with attacks at the same time. He said in the statement that the decision would lead to more losses to the US, its credibility will be affected , its anti-peace stance will be exposed to the world and losses to lives and assets will increase, Reuters reported. "A few days ago, we finalised an agreement with the US, the text of which was sent to the leaders of both delegations and provided to Qatar. Everyone was satisfied. It was agreed that Qatar would announce the deal. However, the disappointing tweets by President Trump are unbelievable and damaged his credibility," Suhail Shaheen, the spokesperson for the Taliban's political office in Doha, Qatar said in a tweet in Arabic. Trump on Saturday announced that he was calling off the peace negotiations with the Taliban and cancelled a "secret meeting" with the group's representatives at Camp David in the wake of the Kabul terror attack, which claimed 12 lives, including an American soldier. Despite Trump's decision, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said that the administration is still working toward a deal but it will not proceed until the Taliban delivers on its commitments. The US has been negotiating with the Taliban in the last few months at Doha despite the group's reluctance to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, which it views as a US puppet. Earlier this week, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said that the Trump administration had reached a deal "in principle" to withdraw over 5,000 troops from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees by the Taliban. (with inputs from ANI)