US denies airstrikes on Taliban violate Doha peace deal

The United States has defended last week's military attack on Taliban positions in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, which the militant group says came in violation of a so-called peace agreement between them and Washington, an apparent further proof of the US failure to bring security to the war-ravaged country.

The military carried out airstrikes on the militants’ positions in Helmand on Tuesday, in the wake of a Taliban offensive to take Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

The Taliban said that by launching the strike, the US forces had in fact violated the agreement they signed in the Qatari capital Doha, earlier this year.

“American forces have violated the Doha agreement in various forms by carrying out excessive air strikes following the new developments in Helmand,” said Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi in a statement on Monday.

US launches airstrikes on Taliban in Afghanistan's Helmand despite ‘peace’ deal

The US military launches airstrikes against Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan following a major offensive by the militant group in the area and despite a “peace” deal between the two sides.

A spokesman for the US forces, Sonny Leggett, however, condemned the attacks staged by the militants and denied that Washington's strikes were in violation of the Doha deal.

“The entire world has witnessed the Taliban’s offensive operations in Helmand — attacks which injured and displaced thousands of innocent Afghan civilians,” Leggett said.

Leggett said previously that the US military would continue to “provide support” to defend Afghan forces.

Prior to the US airstrikes on the Taliban, Afghan military forces carried out an attack on the militants in Helmand, killing scores of them and arresting the group’s local governor, Mawlawi Ghafoor.

Afghan forces kill over 70 Taliban militants, detain local leader in Helmand: officials

Afghan military forces have killed more than 70 Taliban militants in an operation in Helmand.

US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who met the Taliban last week in Doha, also denied charges of violating the Doha pact on Monday.

“Unfounded charges of violations and inflammatory rhetoric do not advance peace,” Khalilzad said on Twitter on Monday.

He urged strict adherence to the troop withdrawal deal and a gradual easing of violence.

Under the deal, Washington promised to pull out all its troops by mid-2021 in return for the Taliban to stop their attacks on US-led occupation forces in Afghanistan.

The Afghan government was not directly involved in either  the negotiations or deal, but it has been acting in accordance with its terms, including by agreeing to free the Taliban prisoners.

Official data, however, shows that Taliban bombings and other assaults have increased by 70 percent since the militant group signed a deal with Washington.

The US invaded Afghanistan and toppled a Taliban regime in 2001. 

In the meantime, the Afghan government engaged in talks with the Taliban in Doha last month in an effort to end decades of hostilities that have ravaged the country.

Talks were originally expected to begin in March, but the Taliban’s continued attacks on Afghan security forces made that impossible.

The first round of the talks began even as key differences, including over a ceasefire, remained between Kabul and the Taliban.

This is while, the implementation of the US-Taliban accord seems to have largely been stalled.

Khalilzad said on Thursday that he had struck an agreement with the Taliban to "re-set" their commitments under the Doha deal.

Khalilzad said he had discussed the implementation of the deal with the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Scott Miller, during several meetings. 

"We agreed to re-set actions by strictly adhering to implementation of all elements of the US-Taliban Agreement and all commitments made," he said. "At present too many Afghans are dying. With the re-set, we expect that number to drop significantly."

US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan conditions-based: Top general

The United States’ top military official says any further drawdown in the number of US troops in Afghanistan depends on a reduction in violence as well as other conditions stipulated in an agreement with the Taliban.

A report said last week that tens of thousands of people fled their homes in Helmand, following the recent fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan forces, and the US military attacks in the region.

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