US urges Taliban to choose peace process instead of military campaign

The United States on Friday has urged the Taliban to choose peace process instead of their military campaign in Afghanistan. The statement assumes significance at a time when the Taliban insurgents captured an Afghan provincial capital and killed the government's senior media officer in Kabul, amid the fast-evolving security situation as the US intensifies its troop withdrawal, writes Chandrakala Choudhury, senior correspondent of ETV Bharat.

New Delhi: Denouncing the Taliban's nationwide offensiveness, the United States has urged the insurgents to take the peace process as seriously as their military campaign in the war-torn country. This comes at a time when the Taliban insurgents have captured an Afghan provincial capital and have killed the government's senior media officer in Kabul on Friday amid the fast-evolving security situation as the US intensifies the troop's withdrawal.

Addressing a press briefing, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, "If the Taliban claim to want international legitimacy, these actions are not going to get them the legitimacy they seek. They do not have to stay on this trajectory". They could choose to devote the same energy to the peace process as they are to their military campaign. We strongly urge them to do so. This is what the Afghan people so urgently need, deserve after decades of war, she added.

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The White House spokeswoman further condemned the assassination of Dawa Khan Menapal, the Director of the Afghan Governmental Information media centre. She said, "His murder follows the bombing attack in Kabul earlier this week that targeted the Acting Afghan Defense Minister". The Taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack, and there’s no reason to doubt reports they are responsible, the White House spokesperson stated.

Psaki said that the United States is closely monitoring and tracking the atrocities and retaliation perpetrated against the civilians in Taliban-controlled areas. And it’s very much in Afghanistan’s neighbours’ interest to invest renewed energy into a peace process that promotes a peaceful Afghanistan and stable region, she said, reiterating that the US President made it clear that after 20 years at war, it is time for the American troops to come home.

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"As it relates to the decision, — we knew from the beginning — and the President would be the first to say this — that there are difficult choices a Commander-in-Chief needs to make on behalf of the American people. And as he said at the time, the status quo was not an option. The Taliban was prepared to attack U.S. and NATO troops after May 1st, which was the deadline for our departure", Jen Psaki pointed out.

The White House spokeswoman said during the press briefing that President Biden also feels and has stated that the Afghan government and the Afghan National Defense Forces have the training, equipment, and numbers to prevail, and now is the moment for the leadership and the will in the face of the Taliban’s aggression and violence.

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Meanwhile, India on Friday said terrorist safe havens in the region must be dismantled immediately and terrorist supply chains disrupted, a's stressed that it is time for the UN Security Council to decide on actions to ensure the immediate cessation of violence in that country. "As a neighbour of Afghanistan, the current situation prevailing in the country is of great concern to us. The violence shows no sign of abating,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti, said at a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan.

The Security Council under the Presidency of India, held a special meeting to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan as the Taliban continues to push its military offensive in the backdrop of the US troops withdrawal. Indirectly referring to Pakistan, Tirumurti said for enduring peace in Afghanistan, terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries in the region must be dismantled immediately and terrorist supply chains disrupted.

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"It needs to be ensured that Afghanistan’s neighbours and the region are not threatened by terrorism, separatism and extremism. There needs to be zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Tirumurti said.

Also at the security council, Special Representative Deborah Lyons, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said the advance of the Taliban in recent months, now targeting major cities, is reminiscent of the Syrian and Balkan wars. She warned the council that Afghanistan is now at a dangerous turning point, saying, "Ahead lies either a genuine peace negotiation or a tragically intertwined set of crises: an increasingly brutal conflict combined with an acute humanitarian situation and multiplying human rights abuses."