Tensions are high between the two sides after Taliban were bombed by US air support in Helmand and Farah provinces
The conditions in Afghanistan have deteriorated as the Taliban and the U.S. accuse each other of violation of the peace deal reached in Doha, Qatar earlier in the year. A suicide bomber blew a vehicle filled with explosive materials near the Police headquarters in Ghor province, killing 15 people and injuring another 150. No one has taken responsibility but the Afghan government is blaming the Taliban for the attack.
Taliban criticize the U.S.
Taliban spokesman Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi said the agreement signed in Qatar bars American forces from launching airstrikes in areas other than combat zones or during active fighting.
“All contents of the U.S.-Islamic Emirate [Taliban] agreement are unambiguous, but the opposite side has violated its commitments on numerous occasions, are engaging in provocative actions and bombing non-combat zones,” Ahmadi said.
U.S. accuses Taliban of violations
U.S. military spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett denied that the U.S. violated the peace deal and said that the Taliban were targeted in Helmand and Farah provinces because the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) were attacked. The tweets were sent by the spokesman after the Taliban claimed that the U.S. violated the agreement.
“We categorically reject the Taliban’s claim the United States has violated the U.S.-Taliban Agreement. U.S. airstrikes in Helmand and (western) Farah (province) have been and continue to be solely in defense of the ANDSF as they are being attacked by the Taliban,” Leggett tweeted.
“The entire world has witnessed the Taliban’s offensive operations in Helmand — attacks which injured and displaced thousands of innocent Afghan civilians. We reiterate our call for ALL SIDES to reduce the violence to allow the political process to take hold,” Leggett said.
Attack in Ghor condemned
The acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan condemned the attack and lamented the loss of precious lives in a tweet. “Innocent Afghans were again killed today through a senseless bombing in #FerozKoh in #Ghor province. This destruction and bloodshed must stop. Afghans deserve to live their lives in peace,” Ross Wilson tweeted.