‘US chose to negotiate as it was losing war to Taliban’

Former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Khalilzad blamed the then-president Ashraf Ghani for the disintegration of Afghanistan’s security sector, saying his escape triggered the chaos in the Afghan capital

‘US chose to negotiate as it was losing war to Taliban’

Taliban fighters inspect the site of a roadside bombing in Jalalabad East of Kabul, Afghanistan, on October 23. Pic/AP/PTI

The United States (US) was losing the war to the Taliban so it chose negotiations as an alternative, said the former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.

Talking to CBS News, Khalilzad said the US military tried many times to strengthen its position on the battleground, but it failed. “The negotiation was a result based on the judgment that we weren’t winning the war and therefore time was not on our side and better to make a deal sooner than later,” Tolo News quoted Khalilzad said.

Khalilzad blamed the then-president Ashraf Ghani for the disintegration of Afghanistan’s security sector, saying his escape triggered the chaos in the Afghan capital.
He said that Washington chose the calendar-based approach in its decisions on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and did not take into account the real situation in the country.

Despite remaining challenges and past failures, Khalilzad believes that the US counter-terrorism mission in the country succeeded as “the terrorist threat from Afghanistan is not what it used to be” and al-Qaeda has been “devastated.” At the same time, the ex-envoy admitted that in the 20 years of American military presence in Afghanistan, the country did not become a democracy.

Pak releases 350 activists of TLP

In what appears to be another total surrender before the protesters marching towards Islamabad, the Pakistan federal government has released more than 350 activists of the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), besides announcing that the cases against others would be withdrawn by Wednesday, Dawn news reported.

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