Donald Trump spoke with the Taliban leader I had a very good conversation, we don't want violence

Donald Trump spoke with the Taliban leader I had a very good conversation, we don't want violence

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, confirmed Tuesday that he had a telephone conversation with a senior Taliban to discuss the peace agreement signed on Saturday with the insurgent group.

"I had a very good conversation with the Taliban leader ," Trump told reporters in Washington. “We do not want violence. We'll see what happens , ”Trump said, according to statements published by the White House.

The agreement, signed in Qatar, paves the way for the opening of direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan Government.

Taliban spokesman Zabihulá Muyahid said during the day that Trump had a 35-minute conversation with the head of the group's political office in Qatar, mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Thus, he has published a transcript of the conversation, in which Baradar asks the US president to “take measures with determination” for the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan and “does not allow anyone to carry out actions that violate the terms of the agreement "

Muyahid has also said that Trump has transferred to Baradar that the Taliban "fight for their homeland." The White House has not yet provided a transcript of the telephone conversation.

The US Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, announced Monday that he had given his approval at the start of the withdrawal of US troops from the country , following the aforementioned agreement.

Esper said at a press conference from the Pentagon that he has no information on whether the withdrawal has started "on the ground", but recalled that the agreement contemplates that it start within ten days of signing.

Thus, he stressed that the withdrawal will be "paused" when it reaches the 8,600 military deployed in the Asian country - currently there are around 13,000 - and it will be "analyzed" if the parties are fulfilling their commitments.

Esper's words came shortly after the Taliban dome gave orders to its combatants to restart operations against the security forces, by concluding the seven days of "violence reduction", although he stressed that the International troops should not be targeted.

In the last 24 hours, the Taliban carried out 33 attacks in 16 of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi announced on Twitter.