The Taliban on Tuesday pledged to continue fighting against United States forces in Afghanistan after President Donald Trump said peace talks with the armed group were “dead”.
“We had two ways to end occupation in Afghanistan, one was jihad and fighting, the other was talks and negotiations,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
“If Trump wants to stop talks, we will take the first way and they will soon regret it,” he said.
The Taliban’s statement came hours after Trump told reporters that the US was walking away from negotiations after nearly a year of talks that aimed to pave the way for an American withdrawal from Afghanistan following 18 years of war.
“They are dead. As far as I am concerned, they are dead,” Trump said at the White House.
The talks were aimed at securing a peace deal to end 18 years of war.
The developments came after US and Taliban officials last week agreed on a draft deal that could have led to a withdrawal of troops from the US’s longest war.
In announcing the cancellation of Sunday’s planned meetings, Trump cited a Taliban attack in Kabul last week in which 12 people, including a US soldier, were killed.
It was unclear whether the talks were cancelled indefinitely or only suspended for the time being.