The U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Tuesday, called on the Taliban to stop their attacks in Helmand and reduce violence around the country.
Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson tweeted that the Taliban’s attacks were incompatible with the February agreement they signed with the U.S.
He “strongly” seconded NATO Resolute Support Commander Gen. Scott Miller’s for the Taliban to reduce its violence nationwide.
“I strongly second Gen. Miller’s call for the Taliban to stop its offensive in Helmand and reduce its violence around the country. This violence, which is not consistent with the U.S.-Taliban agreement, leads only to unacceptable loss of life and destruction,” Wilson wrote.
He urged both sides to stop the violence so that Afghanistan can move towards a “lasting and much-needed peace for all.”
The ongoing Taliban offensive has seen security forces launching operations in the Babaji area of Lashkar Gah, along with Nad Ali district and Highway 601.
Security checkpoints have been set up in Nad Ali and along the highway, with the Afghan forces making advances and reclaiming lost territory.
The Helmand Department of Refugees and Repatriation has said that at least 4,500 families have been displaced due to the conflict in the province.
However, Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, on Monday said that while peace talks have continued in Doha, violence has increased alongside.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Zamzam Foundation, a charity to support war victims and orphans, Abdullah said that historic steps have been taken for peace.
“The talks are underway, the steps which are taken are preliminary and historic steps, but the Afghan people expect these talks to be accelerated and violence to be reduced,” he said.
“Unfortunately, along with the peace talks, the violence has increased and caused concern among the people.”
Abdullah also said that an “acceptable” peace will be one in which the rights of different strata of the country, ethnic groups and minorities are maintained.
On the process of foreign troop withdrawal, Abdullah said, “The leadership of each country’s system decides according to its own plan and strategy, but in any case the international community is firmly committed to the stable future of Afghanistan, and lasting relations with partner countries will continue.”
Taliban’s continued offensive in Helmand
The New York Times (NYT) spoke to Rohullah Ahmadzai, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who said that in the past 24 hours, the Taliban carried out attacks in 20 of the country’s 34 provinces.
NYT says that the Taliban attacks on Lashkar Gah and its surrounding areas in Helmand, is in-line with strategy to launch a large-scale attack towards the end of the “fighting season” so that morale of their fighters remain high during the winter months.
“The run for a provincial capital amid peace talks suggested that the Taliban still see military bullying as their most effective negotiating tactic,” the NYT reports.
The attack also appeared to test how far the U.S. troops, who are in the midst of a drawdown, will go to defend their Afghan allies.
