The Taliban will not negotiate with the team announced by the Afghan government, the militant group’s spokesman said on Saturday.
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement said the group would not negotiate with the team as it was not selected in a way that included “all Afghan sides.”
“In order to reach true and lasting peace, the aforementioned team must be agreed upon by all effective Afghan sides so that it can represent all sides however majority of other sides have rejected the current announced team,” Mujahid said.
“Impediments must not be created for intra-Afghan negotiations nor must a single group try to monopolize the issue of an entire country,” he said.
The Afghan government announced the 21-member team on Thursday, which was later praised by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad as “inclusive.”
