Taliban likely to flout Afghanistan peace agreement, US intel claims

The Taliban is likely to dishonour the historic peace deal signed in Qatar's Doha last week, a report citing compelling US intelligence said on Saturday. NBC News on Saturday reported that the Afghan Taliban does not intend to abide by the agreements. Acknowledging the crucial input, US President Donald Trump on Saturday also claimed that the Afghan Taliban could “possibly” overrun the US-backed Afghanistan government following the withdrawal of troops from the region. 

In addition, the news report citing an official claimed that the US intelligence community has seen "explicit evidence" that sheds light on the intentions of the armed organisation. According to the peace deal, the Afghan Taliban promised to stop providing safe harbour to terrorists and engage in a dialogue with the democratic government in Kabul, led by Ashraf Ghani, in return the United States promised the full withdrawal of troops within 14 months. 

"They have no intention of abiding by their agreement," an official told the US-based news organisation." "We all hope they follow through with their side of the agreement, but we believe we know their true intentions," the report added, citing another US official.  Following the news break, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, in a tweet rejected the allegations by US intelligence officers, saying, "We categorically reject allegations by US intel official that the (Taliban) has no intention of abiding by the agreement. The implementation process is going good so far and such comments by US officials cannot be justified."

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On Friday, interacting with the media outside the White House, Donald Trump asserted that countries have to care for themselves, saying, "You can only hold someone's hand for so long." When questioned if the Taliban could possibly seize the power from the democratic Afghan government, he responded saying, "It is not supposed to happen that way but it possibly will."

The statement came as the Taliban launched an offensive on March 3 killing 20 Afghan army and police officials in a string of overnight attacks. Following which, the US in retaliation launched an airstrike on the Taliban's fighters in Helmand, international media reported citing US officials. The first stalemate in the agreement was witnessed on March 2, when the Taliban told international media that no talks would proceed until the release of all 5000 prisoners.

US-Taliban peace deal

Diplomats from the Afghanistan, United States, India, Pakistan and other members of the United Nations gathered alongside the Taliban representatives in Doha's Sheraton Hotel on February 29. The deal if signed, will end the 18-year-old long war of the United States in Afghanistan. 

"The United States will reduce the number of US military forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 and implement other commitments in the US-Taliban agreement within 135 days of the announcement of this joint declaration and the US-Taliban agreement and will work with its allies and the Coalition to reduce proportionally the number of Coalition forces in Afghanistan over an equivalent period, subject to the Taliban’s fulfillment of its commitments under the US-Taliban agreement," the joint Afghan-US declaration read. 

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaking about the peace deal said that all contents in the agreement are 'conditions-based'. He added saying that the withdrawal of the foreign forces from the region will depend on the Taliban's fulfillment of their commitments. The Taliban had even ordered its fighters to refrain from any attacks. 

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