Kabul : ‘The United States is looking forward to a victory in Afghanistan. But this victory may not be a military victory. The United States may also win politically in Afghanistan,’ indicated US Defence Secretary James Mattis. US Defence Secretary, James Mattis made this statement before proceeding on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan. Mattis informed that he would discuss the peace proposal given to the Taliban with President Ashraf Ghani in this Afghanistan visit.
Mattis reached Afghanistan after finishing his Oman visit on Tuesday. This was a sudden visit of the US Defence Secretary. The US Defence Secretary welcomed the peace proposal given to the Taliban by the Afghani President. Taliban has been given peace proposals even in the past but the negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government could not make headway. But Mattis expressed satisfaction over the peace proposal given by President Ghani to the Taliban. US Defence Secretary indicated that President Ghani’s efforts will be successful.
Defence Secretary Mattis had said that the conflict in Afghanistan was 16 years old and had proposed to include Taliban in the peace talks. Mattis claimed at that time that some of the Taliban groups are interested in peace talks and participating in the political processes in Afghanistan.
Mattis said that it will be a major political victory, if the political negotiations and the peace talks between the Ghani government and the Taliban become successful. If that happens, the Afghanistan army can take care of the country’s security and Afghanistan will no more be a target for international air attacks, claimed the US Defence Secretary. Defence Secretary Mattis is scheduled to meet President Ghani and the NATO Command Chief General John Nicholson during his Afghanistan visit.
President Ghani had given a proposal for peace talks to the Taliban, ten days ago. Ghani had assured that the Taliban will get to participate in the Afghanistan political process, if they are willing for peaceful negotiations. Taliban had given mixed reactions to this proposal from the Afghanistan President. The Taliban based in Afghanistan had indicated willingness for the peace talks whereas the Taliban based near the Pakistan border had rejected the proposal.
Meanwhile, the Afghanistan army is continuing the campaign against the Taliban in absence of a satisfactory Taliban response to the proposal and has claimed to have killed 53 Talibani terrorists in the last 24 hours. Apart from this, it has come to light that the US drone attacks have killed 23 Talibani terrorists.
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