US, Taliban discuss easing violence in Afghanistan amid historic peace deal

The head of US forces in Afghanistan met with Taliban leaders to discuss how to ease the ongoing fighting that threatens the peace deal signed in February.

A US military spokesman called on the Taliban to stop attacking Afghan security forces and vowed American troops would continue to come to their aid in accordance with the agreement. Taliban leaders called for an end to what they say is an increase in American attacks, which the US military denied.

The peace deal is aimed at creating a path for the US to exit the 19-year war, America’s longest, but the Taliban is accusing US forces of breaching the agreement.

Gen. Scott Miller, the US commander, and the Taliban leaders took place Friday night in Doha, Qatar.

“General Miller met with Taliban leadership last night as part of the military channel established in the agreement,” the US spokesman told Reuters. “The meeting was about the need to reduce the violence,” he said.

The spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha also said on Twitter that the meeting discussed implementation of the agreement.

The Taliban is slated to negotiate with an Afghan delegation as part of the agreement, but a prisoner exchange that was supposed to come first has hit snags.

The Afghan government released 200 Taliban prisoners Wednesday and Thursday, but the insurgents walked away from the exchange process, saying its demand on who was to be released first was not met.

With Post wires