WASHINGTON - Despite a series of some high-profile terrorist attacks in the past few weeks, the United States on Monday stressed need for reconciliation talks with the Taliban to arrive at a useful conclusion.
“It is absolutely true that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place; there’s no question about that. Today’s attack underscores that,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters at his daily news conference.
Hours after 20 people were killed in a suicide attack on a police compound in Kabul, he rejected the view that Taliban had no interest in the Afghan-led reconciliation process.
“They’re not a monolithic organisation the way that some people want to paint them. We still think that that’s the way forward. We still think that there’s room to make that happen,” the spokesman added.
He went on to characterise the deadly bombing as more of a reminder that negotiations were really the answer a process the Obama administration continued to encourage and support.
Kirby said the US wanted the Afghan government to continue with its peace process with the Taliban. “We continue to encourage that process to move forward,” he continued.
He underlined the need for a continued international mission in Afghanistan to improve the capability, confidence and competence of the local security forces that continued to do an admirable job.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done in Afghanistan.  We recognize that.  But again, all of this is a reminder of how important it is for everybody to see these reconciliation talks continue,” Kirby concluded.  (Pajhwok)