The Afghan Taliban on Friday said they had agreed to reduce ‘military operations’ to provide safe environment for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and talks with the Americans were centered on fixing a date for signing the agreement.

“We have agreed to scale down military operations in days leading up to the signing of the peace agreement with the United States,” Taliban chief spokesman in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, told Pakistan’s Dawn on phone.

“The purpose is to provide safe environment to foreign forces to withdraw from Afghanistan, “he added.

“There is no agreement on ceasefire,” Shaheen insisted. “It’s a reduction in our military operations,” he said. “It is our prerogative to see how, when and where to scale down our military operations and it’s not going to be restricted to foreign forces only. The scaling down will be blanket and shall include all forces including state forces.”

Asked whether the reduction in attack would continue after the signing of the peace agreement, the Afghan Taliban spokesman said the day the agreement was signed other clauses contained in the document would come into force.

He did not elaborate on what those clauses would be, but added that the agreement would lead to commencement of an intra-Afghan dialogue including the Ashraf Ghani-led Kabul administration and negotiations for a nationwide ceasefire.

Arezo News Website