KABUL - US President Barack Obama said on Thursday the Taliban under their new supreme leader might not join peace negotiations with the Ashraf Ghani government in the near future.
Currently on a visit to Ise-Shima to attend a G-7 meeting, the American leader told journalists: “I doubt it will be happening anytime soon,” Obama told.
Maulvi Haibatullah Akhundzada was elected on Wednesday as successor to Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province on Saturday.
Withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, where the conflicting is heading into its 16th year, has been a key policy goal for President Obama, who has allowed 9,500 military personnel to stay in the country until the end of the current year. (Pajhwok)