Government officials in Afghanistan confirmed over 50 casualties in several attacks by the Taliban jihadist organization on Thursday, strikes that occurred as the Taliban attempts to broker a peace deal with both Kabul and the U.S. government.
The Afghan Taliban on Friday rejected reports that they had agreed to a repeat of last year’s unprecedented three-day ceasefire in honor of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, noting the audio message about the truce is related to last year’s cessation of hostilities.
The United States must tackle the Taliban’s top source of funding in Afghanistan – deadly opium and its heroin derivative – whether there is a peace agreement or not, U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko told Breitbart News on Thursday.
Taliban narco-jihadis killed at least 68 members of the U.S.-backed Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and injured 38 others in fierce clashes over the weekend in the terrorist group’s opium-rich stronghold of Helmand, Afghanistan’s largest province located along the Pakistani border.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton recently confirmed that President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to leave behind a residual counterterrorism American force in Afghanistan to ensure the Taliban keeps its promises if the United States pulls its military out of the country as part of ongoing peace negotiations.
