In an open letter to the American public, the Taliban’s leader Mullah Abdullah Abdul Ghani Baradar urged the United States to abide by its commitments to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan in accordance with the US-Taliban peace deal signed between the two sides in Doha last February.
The Taliban senior leader has also said that the group is committed to act upon the US-Taliban peace agreement, stating that he is confident that the Afghans will finally agree on an Islamic system and sustainable peace and security through a political settlement.
“We are fully confident that the Afghans themselves can achieve the establishment of an Islamic government and enduring peace and security through intra-Afghan dialogue,” an excerpt from the letter says.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is sincerely committed to finding a political solution to the ongoing conflict and therefore, took the initiative by opening a political office in the nation of Qatar towards this end,” the letter reads.
Meanwhile, Mateen Bek, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban, has said that the Taliban–after travelling to Islamabad–are making unnecessary excuses to attend the peace negotiation table, ToloNews reported.
“Before going to Islamabad, they were looking a bit serious, their colleagues who have not travelled to Pakistan had raised optimism in their talks with our colleagues, but their gesture changed after returning from Islamabad,” said Mateen Bek.
“Now that a year has passed since the signing of the Doha agreement, we urge the American side to remain committed to the full implementation of this accord,” Baradar said in the letter.
In the letter, the Taliban also said that they will respect women’s rights in accordance to the Islamic principles.
“Just as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has clarified in many instances that it is committed to upholding and guaranteeing all rights of women afforded to them by Islamic law, we would like to once again assure the international community in this regard,” the letter said.