Kabul: Facing an emboldened Taliban and with less US military support, Afghan forces have suffered heavy casualties during a two-month surge in violence across the country that is threatening to jeopardise a fragile peace deal between the United States and the Taliban.
A US military assessment describes Taliban attacks on Afghan forces in March as “above seasonal norms,” according to a quarterly report released on April 30 by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
“The numbers show Taliban doing nothing for peace and everything to continue their campaign of terror against Afghans,” the council’s spokesman, Javid Faisal, said on Twitter.
The top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller, called on the Taliban to reduce attacks and give “our political leadership on all sides an opportunity to determine the peaceful way forward,” according to a transcript of his remarks released by a US military spokesman.
“If the Taliban continue to attack, then what they should expect is a response,” Miller said.
The increase in violence comes as US officials struggle to keep the Taliban peace deal on track.
Miller met with Taliban leadership twice in April “as part of the military channel established in the agreement about the need to reduce the violence,” according to the SIGAR report.
