Taliban says ‘diplomacy is the way to end the war’

The Taliban on Wednesday responded to comments made by US President-elect Joe Biden’s national security adviser nominee Jack Sullivan and said they believed in “the path of diplomacy”.

The Taliban said in a statement that “the best way to resolve the dispute is the continuation of diplomacy”.

Referring to the US-Taliban agreement signed in February, which the Afghan government was not party to, the Taliban stated it is “committed to the points in the agreement and want the same from the other side.”

On the issue of targeted killings of prominent activists and journalists in the country, the Taliban again denied any involvement and said “these individuals were not the group’s military targets”.

The Afghan government and numerous officials have however blamed the group for the recent spike in assassinations.

The Taliban’s statement comes after Sullivan’s interview with CNN on Sunday where he said the Taliban need to prove they have cut all ties with the Taliban and not just say they have.

He told CNN that under the Taliban agreement with the US, they had pledged to sever ties with al-Qaeda, but that this commitment needed to be not a matter of words but of action.

Sullivan emphasized that the Taliban must reduce violence and enter into negotiations with the Afghan government in good faith.