US President Donald Trump said on Monday talks with Taliban were dead, while its military said that it would ramp up operations in Afghanistan against Taliban.
Trump cancelled talks with the Taliban planned for Camp David over the weekend after an American soldier was killed in a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul last week.
“They’re dead. They’re dead. As far as I’m concerned, they’re dead,” Trump told reporters.
A draft deal agreed last week following nearly a year of negotiations would have seen about 5,000 US troops withdrawn in exchange for Taliban guarantees that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militant attacks on the US or its allies.
“We’d like to get out but we’ll get out at the right time,” Trump said.
However, the end of the talks has fueled fears of escalation in violence across Afghanistan.
Head of US Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie said on Monday that the US military is likely to accelerate the pace of its operations in Afghanistan to counter the upsurge.
The general, who was visiting Afghanistan, said that the Taliban “overplayed their hand” in peace negotiations by carrying out a spate of high profile attacks.
“We’re certainly not going to sit still and let them carry out some self-described race to victory. That’s not going to happen,” McKenzie told a group of reporters traveling with him during a stop at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Trump said anti-Taliban operations in Afghanistan had increased in recent days.
“Over the last four days, we have been hitting our Enemy harder than at any time in the last ten years,” Trump said.
