Taliban launches attacks as Trump brags 'there's no violence'
‘We had a good conversation, we have agreed there’s no violence, we don’t want violence,’ Trump said about his Tuesday call with a Taliban leader.
Taliban fighters launched 43 attacks on Afghan National Defense and Security Forces checkpoints on Tuesday, the same day Donald Trump bragged to reporters about a “very good” phone call he had with the Taliban’s deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The United States responded to the attacks with an airstrike Wednesday conducted by drones.
“This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack. This was our 1st strike against the Taliban in 11 days.” Col. Sonny Leggett, a spokesperson for the U.S. military, tweeted.
“Taliban leadership promised the int’l community they would reduce violence and not increase attacks. We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments,” Leggett said. “As we have demonstrated, we will defend our partners when required.”
After a Tuesday phone call with the Taliban amid reports of violence, Trump spoke to reporters and touted what he characterized as a “very good talk.”
“We had a good conversation, we have agreed there’s no violence, we don’t want violence,” Trump said.
The eruption of violence comes after the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement on Saturday designed to lead to a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
The agreement stipulates that the Taliban will “not allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including Al Qaeda, to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.”
In exchange for that condition, NBC reports the United States has agreed to reduce forces in Afghanistan from the current number of 13,000 down to 8,600, with the remaining troops to be withdrawn in 14 months depending on conditions being met by the Taliban to prevent violence.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the agreement was key to “seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation.”
American service members have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 in the longest military conflict in American history.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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