U.S. Conducts Airstrike On Taliban Days After Signing Peace Deal
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Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present),
Civil war in Afghanistan (pink– Under control of the Afghan Government, NATO, and Allies; white –
Under control of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Allies; gray– Under control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Allies, Attribution: Ali Zifan, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
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U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against Taliban fighters in Helmand, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 4, 2020, the first such strike since the two sides signed a historic peace deal just days ago, in the video “US forces launch airstrike on Taliban days after agreement“, below:
The U.S. launches an airstrike on the Taliban in Afghanistan after the Taliban conducts 43 attacks against Afghan forces; Lucas Tomlinson reports from the Pentagon, in the video “US conducts airstrike on Taliban days after signing peace deal“, below:
A spokesman for U.S. Forces Afghanistan described it as “a defensive strike” to counter a Taliban attack on an Afghan checkpoint, in the video “U.S. conducts airstrike on the Taliban“, below:
Just a day after having a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump, Taliban killed 20 Afghan army and police officials in a string of overnight attacks on March 3, a news agency reported quoting government officials. Safiullah Amiri, a member of the provincial council in Afghanistan reportedly said that the Taliban fighters attacked at least three army outposts in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz last night. In addition to that, the insurgents also attacked police in central Uruzgan province yesterday night, governor’s spokesman Zergai Ebadi reportedly said, in the video “Taliban Attacks Kill 20 Afghan Soldiers Hours After Trump Call“, below:
The problem lies in the fact that U.S. did not coordinate well with the Afghanistan government for part of the term of agreement in the peace deal (releasing 5,000 Taliban fighters in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan security forces before the talk between Afghanistan government and the Taliban begins on March 10, 2020). The peace deal signed few days ago was signed between U.S. and the Taliban, but part of the peace deal involved having Afghanistan government releasing 5,000 prisoners. The peace deal should have been signed and negotiated by U.S.-Afghanistan-Taliban in order to be in effect. Furthermore, under normal circumstance, prisoner-exchange would not take place until after the talk and negotiation had been completed. The talk between Afghanistan government and the Taliban is scheduled to start on March 10, 2020.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told reporters on Sunday, March 1, 2020, “Freeing Taliban prisoners is not under the authority of America but the authority of the Afghan government. There has been no commitment for the release of 5,000 prisoners.” and added that the issue could be discussed during peace talks but not as a precondition for them.
On Monday, March 2, 2020, a senior Afghan official commented that this impasse could stall the start of intra-Afghan talks if the Taliban insists on a prisoner release first, saying, “It’s our biggest leverage against the Taliban. We are not going to release them without serious progress in the peace process.”
The question is whether all parties involved are serious about peace. Regardless what the Trump administration had agreed to, the Afghanistan government and the Taliban need to sit down and negotiate for their own terms of agreement regarding their prisoners-exchange. There had already been enough bloodshed on both sides, isn’t it time to think about the welfare of their own people?!
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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