Ghani spokesman: Taliban leaders send orders from Qatar to kill Afghans

Speaking at a news conference in Kabul on Sunday, Sadiq Sediqi, a spokesman for President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, that the Afghan people would never accept an incomplete peace deal with the Taliban that results in their death.

Sediqi said that the Taliban leaders staying in Qatar for peace talks were “having [a] honeymoon in Doha,” adding that the “Taliban leaders [send] orders from Qatar to kill Afghans.”

Negotiations in Qatar are incomplete, and the Afghani government has shared its concerns with the US about the “flawed process,” Sediqi said.

Ghani’s spokesperson said that US President Donald Trump’s decision on Saturday to cancel peace talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders proved that the government’s concerns were acknowledged. Trump cancelled the talks after the insurgent group said it was behind an attack in Kabul that killed an American soldier and 11 other people.

“The peace talks provided an opportunity to the Taliban to embrace political life,” Sediqi told reporters in Kabul.

“We [the Afghan government] expected an outcome leading to a ceasefire and holding direct talks with the Taliban but we did not see any real effort from their [Taliban] end,” he said.

Ghani’s office said in a statement it was committed to working together with the United States and allies for a “dignified and long-lasting peace.” He added that the country will be holding the presidential election this month.

Ghani is seeking a second tenure in the elections scheduled for September 28, but the Taliban have called for the elections to be cancelled as a precondition to signing a peace accord with the US.

The statement said that lasting peace required “a strong, legitimate and a legal government through the upcoming elections to take the ongoing peace process forward.”

Editor's note: The original version of this article included a potential misinterpretation of a translation which has subsequently been corrected.