US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the ongoing attacks by the Taliban on Tuesday, and pledged to remain in close contact going forward, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
Blinken spoke with Ghani to reiterate the strong and enduring US commitment to Afghanistan. Both the leaders emphasised the need to accelerate peace negotiations and achieve an inclusive political settlement, respects the rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities, allows the Afghan people to have a say in choosing their leaders, and prevents Afghan soil from being used to threaten the United States and its allies and partners.
“Blinken and Ghani condemned the ongoing Taliban attacks, which show little regard for human life and human rights, and deplored the loss of innocent Afghan lives and displacement of the civilian population,” the statement stated. Blinken and Ghani pledged to remain in close contact going forward, it added.
Blinken also took to Twitter and said, “Spoke with @ashrafghani today to reiterate the strong and enduring US commitment to Afghanistan. We discussed the need to accelerate peace negotiations toward an inclusive political settlement that respects the rights of all Afghans, including women and girls.”
Blinken has said that the Taliban’s demands from the International community will not be accepted until they stop the ongoing violation. He also said that the terrorist group will not be recognised either, Khaama Press reported. “Taliban are demanding their leaders’ names to be taken out of the black list and ultimately do visits to other countries around the world which he believes will not be logical and pragmatic with the current level of violation by the group,” he said during the announcement of the US new program-Program2- for resettling Afghans who have worked for the US government beyond interpreters and translators.