Afghan government on Sunday warned that it will resume offensive operations against the Taliban if the group fails to reduce violence as agreed in its deal with the United States.
“We are maintaining defensive posture, but if the situation remains the same, we cannot tolerate it, we hope that we will return to reduction in violence and ultimately ceasefire by the end of this week,” Afghan Acting Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid said at a press conference.
“We will keep defensive posture till the end of this week, otherwise we will go after enemies wherever they are hiding,” Khalid said.
The United States and the Taliban signed a peace deal in Qatar late last month, but the group has increased its attacks on Afghans after keeping them low for a brief period.
The deal requires intra-Afghan talks to begin tomorrow (Tuesday) but it is likely to be delayed as President Ashraf Ghani has refused to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners before talks begin.
