Taliban Chief Negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar told FRONTLINE in an interview on PBS that “the war will end when the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan.”

“[T]he Americans made a huge mistake by coming to Afghanistan and starting this war in Afghanistan,” Baradar told FRONTLINE. “Because their main goal was just one person — Osama bin Laden — and he is now gone. …We are obliged, as it is our country, to defend it with our lives.”

Baradar said that he blamed the US for the war. “It was the U.S. who brought misery in Afghanistan. …Such tragedy wouldn’t have occurred, nor would so many lives have been lost.”

After a U.S. withdrawal, Baradar said the Taliban would be able to take care of its remaining problems: defeat the remaining ISIS militants — and reach an agreement with the Afghan government. “If there’s no U.S., we [will] for sure reach an agreement between ourselves, because they are Afghans and we are Afghans.”

In response to a question about women rights in Afghanistan, the key Taliban official added: “There has been no change in the Taliban in this regard,” he said. “We accept all the rights that God has granted to women…. Under Islamic law, if they want to live and work, of course we will allow it.”

Recently, the US asked the Taliban for a cease-fire. Earlier this week, it was reported that the Taliban was open to a temporary reduction in violence.

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