Taliban violence in Afghanistan up by 50 pc in last 3 months

The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released on Saturday said that the Taliban violence drastically increased in Afghanistan during August, September and November, TOLO News reported.

Quoting Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, the report said that the continued violence has posed serious threats to the Afghan peace process.

"However, US officials have recently indicated that the Taliban is not fully meeting other commitments stipulated in or broadly part of the US-Taliban agreement, in particular those regarding counterterrorism guarantees and reduced Taliban violence whose importance US officials have stressed repeatedly," it said.

Citing a senior official in the Pentagon, the report said that if the Taliban failed to abide by its commitments in terms of fight against terrorism, the US's decision about troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan will be affected.

The official has also said that continued support of Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) will be important in the post-peace era to save the Kabul government from collapse.

"Increase in violence threatens peace process and it also disappoints the international community and the Afghan people," said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman to President Ashraf Ghani.

"The Taliban have recently increased violence against the people of Afghanistan and they are the main perpetrators of violence against the people," said Tariq Aryan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.