Peace won’t return to Afghanistan until Taliban halts killing: Govt

Kabul: No peace talks in Afghanistan would yield desired result in the absence of government delegation, said a statement of presidential palace on Sunday.
“The obstacle for achieving peace in Afghanistan is the continued Taliban-led war and violence,” said the statement.
“The real peace won’t return to Afghanistan unless and until the Taliban halts Afghan killing, accepts ceasefire and initiate direct talks with Afghan government,” the statement added.
The statement came after the US President Donald Trump called off the peace talks with the Taliban in the wake of a suicide car bomb on Thursday in Kabul.
Hope talks with Taliban resume in future: Pompeo
Washington: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday he hopes the United States and the Taliban can resume talks in the future.
Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News that talks are dead “for the time being” after one US soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Thursday.
“I hope we get them started back,” Pompeo said, referring to the talks, adding the Taliban “have got to demonstrate that they are prepared to do the things that we asked them to do in the course of those negotiations.”
The reconciliatory message came after US President Donald Trump pulled the plugs on the talks Saturday, citing the deadly attack. In a flurry of tweets, Trump said a secret meeting with Taliban leaders and the Afghan president scheduled for Sunday had been scrapped due to the attack.
The United States and the Taliban are reportedly close to a deal to end the over-18-year-old US war in Afghanistan.
Both the Taliban militants and the Afghan government forces have intensified operations in the war-torn country recently.