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US military blames Taliban for recent assassinations in Afghanistan

Monday, 04 January 2021 11:09 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 04 January 2021 11:09 AM ]

This file photo taken on February 29, 2020, shows US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad (L) and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shaking hands after signing a peace agreement during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha.(Photo by AFP)

The United States has blamed the Taliban forces in Afghanistan for a recent spate of deadly attacks in the war-torn country.

On Monday, Washington accused the group of assassinating prominent Afghan figures in the past weeks.

The accusation, which is being directed at the militants by Washington for the first time, comes as the Afghan government and the Taliban representatives are due to resume the US-brokered peace talks in the Qatari capital on Tuesday.

A prominent election activist, the deputy governor of Kabul province and five people working as journalists for news networks were among the Afghan figures assassinated in the past several weeks.

"The Taliban's campaign of unclaimed attacks and targeted killings of government officials, civil society leaders & journalists must... cease for peace to succeed," Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, said on Twitter.

Doha to host next round of talks between Afghan government, Taliban: Official

The Qatari capital will once again host peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban.

While the Taliban have denied the charges leveled against the group by both Washington and Kabul, Daesh, a Takfiri military group also active in Afghanistan, has claimed responsibility for some of the assassinations.

Both groups have in the past launched numerous attacks against civilian, government and military targets.

The Taliban alone carried out more than 18,000 attacks in 2020, according to the head of Afghan intelligence organization, National Directorate of Security Chief Ahmad Zia Siraj.

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