The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke on April 20 with President Ashraf Ghani and condemned the Taliban’s recent announcement of a spring offensive and stressed the United States’ solidarity with the Afghan people’s pursuit of a comprehensive peace agreement that would end the suffering and destruction, the US Department of State says in a statement.
The Taliban announced their annual spring offensive om April 12, which comes as the Afghan and US politicians try to negotiate for a peace settlement with the militant group.
Pompeo also expressed the United States’ disappointment that the intra-Afghan dialogue, planned for Doha, Qatar, had been postponed, the statement said.
The Secretary and President Ghani agreed that the Doha conference presents an important opportunity to advance peace, statement said.
The Secretary encouraged all sides to seize the moment and reach an understanding on participants, so that an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue can be convened in Doha as soon as possible.
According to Presidential Palace, the Doha meeting was canceled on the disagreement of Qatari government with the Afghan delegation’s formation.
The cancelation of the meeting met with strong reaction by Afghan critics and former Taliban members who called it “disappointing” and a “lost opportunity” towards peace in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.
