U.S. military defends air strikes as Taliban warns of 'consequences'

 

FILE PHOTO: A man carries an injured child at a hospital after a truck bomb blast, in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, October 3, 2020. REUTERS/Parwiz/File Photo

 

KABUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Sunday defended its air strikes against Taliban fighters last week as the insurgent group accused Washington of violating their signed agreement and warned of consequences if such actions continued.

 

The Taliban launched a major offensive in the southern province of Helmand in a bid to take the provincial capital, prompting U.S. air strikes in support of Afghan security forces, which were being overrun.

 

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

 

The U.S.-Taliban agreement, signed in Doha, provides for foreign forces to leave Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees and a pledge from the insurgents to sit down with the Kabul administration to find a peaceful settlement to decades of war.

 

"Responsibility and consequences from continuation of such actions shall fall squarely on the shoulders of the American side," Ahmadi warned, adding that air and drone strikes had also been carried out in other provinces.

 

Col. Sonny Leggett, spokesman for the U.S. forces, denied that the strikes violated the agreement.

 

"The entire world has witnessed the Taliban's offensive operations in Helmand - attacks which injured and displaced thousands of innocent Afghan civilians," Leggett tweeted, reiterating a call for "all sides" to reduce violence.

 

Talks between Taliban and Afghan government negotiators began last month in Doha, but the process has only moved slowly, while violence has continued. Diplomats and officials have said this is sapping the trust required for the talks to succeed.

 

After the Helmand fighting, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on Thursday that the Taliban had agreed to "reset" their commitments and reduce the number of casualties.

 

Earlier this month, the Taliban welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet that all American troops should be "home by Christmas" - well before the May 2021 timeline agreed in Doha.

 

(Reporting Orooj Hakimi in Kabul; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-19

 

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push me shove you.
it never stops, with all the years of watching that part of the world, let em all have at it and get it over and done with.

Seem Trump and the Pentagon not on he same page. 

2 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Seem Trump and the Pentagon not on he same page. 

Who is with Trump on the same page

45 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Who is with Trump on the same page

Well to be fair to Trump it's not like he's Commander-in-Chief...hmmm...

There are some parts of the world where "Newk the barstuds" seems the only lasting solution. Pity it offends the apologists.

 

Over literally centuries, Afghanistan; the Brits couldn't fix it, the Russians couldn't fix it, the Americans and the United Nations can't fix it. Even the Afghans can't fix it. Meanwhile real people suffer. This one case where the cure is better than the disease.

11 minutes ago, Grusa said:

There are some parts of the world where "Newk the barstuds" seems the only lasting solution. Pity it offends the apologists.

 

Over literally centuries, Afghanistan; the Brits couldn't fix it, the Russians couldn't fix it, the Americans and the United Nations can't fix it. Even the Afghans can't fix it. Meanwhile real people suffer. This one case where the cure is better than the disease.

So your plan will end the suffering of "real people" by nuking them? You got a bomb with neutrons trained only to target Islamists?