The United States will review the peace agreement reached with the Taliban last year, the White House announced.
President Joe Biden\u2019s newly appointed national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, spoke with his Afghan counterpart Hamdullah Mohib and \u201cmade clear the United States\u2019 intention to review\u201d the deal, said National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne late on Friday.
Specifically, Washington wants to check that the Taliban is \u201cliving up to its commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in Afghanistan, and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other stakeholders\u201d, her statement said.
Sullivan \u201cunderscored that the US will support the peace process with a robust and regional diplomatic effort, which will aim to help the two sides achieve a durable and just political settlement and permanent ceasefire\u201d.
Mohib tweeted during the call the two sides \u201cagreed to work toward a permanent ceasefire and a just and durable peace\u201d in the country.
Washington struck a deal with the Taliban in Qatar last year to begin American troops\u2019 withdrawal in return for security guarantees from the armed group and a commitment to kick-start peace talks with the Afghan government.
But violence across Afghanistan has surged despite the two sides engaging in talks since September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Honour our commitments\u2019 Brazen attacks The United States will review the peace agreement reached with the Taliban last year, the White House announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong>Sullivan also discussed the US\u2019s support for protecting recent progress made on women and minority groups\u2019 rights as part of the peace process.
The Taliban said they remained \u201ccommitted to the agreement and honour our commitments\u201d.
\u201cWe expect the other side to remain committed to the agreement too,\u201d Mohammad Naeem, the group\u2019s spokesman in Qatar, told AFP news agency.
Washington\u2019s move was met with a sigh of relief from officials in Kabul after months of speculation over how the new administration would potentially recalibrate the Afghan policy.
Another top Afghan government official lambasted the Taliban\u2019s failure to live up to the February 2020 deal, saying the agreement failed to achieve its stated goals.
\u201cThe agreement so far did not deliver a desired goal of ending Taliban violence and bringing a ceasefire desired by the Afghans,\u201d Sediq Sediqqi, deputy interior minister and former spokesman to President Ashraf Ghani, said on Twitter.
\u201cThe Taliban did not live up to its commitments.\u201d
Analysts say the Biden administration needs a comprehensive review of the Doha agreement to understand what has been agreed on both sides.
\u201cThe Biden administration seems to be more committed to reduction in violence (RIV) in Afghanistan and if you look at the agreement, RIV is one of the main points in it. But we have seen a surge in violence so if found that the Taliban have not shown their commitment in reducing violence they will come under pressure from the new administration,\u201d Fahim Sadat, an international relations professor at Kardan University in Kabul, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Deadly attacks and high-profile assassinations have increased in recent months, particularly in Kabul where journalists, activists, judges and politicians have been murdered in brazen daylight attacks.
Though Afghan and US officials have blamed the Taliban for the killings, the group has denied its role.
\u201cAlso, the Afghan government is expecting to work closely with the new administration to share their concerns regarding the US-Taliban deal where they feel [former president Donald] Trump was lenient towards the Taliban,\u201d Sadat said.
On Tuesday, Biden\u2019s nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told his Senate confirmation hearing \u201cwe want to end this so-called forever war\u201d.
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