BRUSSELS: The Taliban Afghanistan must do more to meet the terms of a 2020 peace agreement with the United States to allow for any possible foreign troop withdrawal by a May deadline, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
The defence ministers of NATO allies will discuss later this week whether the Taliban are making good on the peace deal, which called for militants to curb attacks and foreign troops to withdraw by May 1.
“We see that there is still a need for the Taliban to do more when it comes to delivering on their commitments … to make sure that they break all ties with international terrorists,” Stoltenberg said.
Attacks in Afghanistan, including a bomb that killed the deputy governor of the capital Kabul in December, have prompted members of the US Congress and international rights groups to call for a delay to the pullout agreed under former President Donald Trump.
This week’s defence ministers’ meeting, which will take place by video conference, was initially set to decide on whether to go ahead with a troop pullout. The administration of new US President Joe Biden faces calls to seek a six-month delay.
Four senior NATO officials said on January 31 international troops would stay beyond the May deadline, despite Taliban calls for a full withdrawal.
“Our common goal is clear: Afghanistan should never again serve as a haven for terrorists to attack our homelands,” Stoltenberg said. “While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary. We will not leave before the time is right.”
NATO allies want the US to consult more closely with them after feeling sidelined when Trump cut US troop numbers to 2,500 in January, their lowest figure since the start of the war in 2001.
Taliban violence has surged in recent months amid stuttering peace talks with the Afghan government. The group has warned NATO ministers not to seek a “continuation of occupation and war”. A study mandated by the US Congress has called for a delay in the pullout, warning it would effectively hand the Taliban a victory.
NATO has 9,600 troops in Afghanistan, including 2,500 Americans, training and assisting Afghan forces. Many fear that progress during two decades of foreign intervention in Afghanistan would quickly unravel, threatening gains in areas from women’s rights to democracy. US lawmakers have warned that withdrawing all troops could lead to civil war.
