Taliban reject peace talks with Afghan government

March 05, 2016 19:06

The Taliban today refused to resume long-stalled peace talks with the Afghan government, reiterating their preconditions for holding dialogue, a statement said.

"We want to repeat our stance once again that until the occupation of foreign troops ends, until Taliban names are removed from international blacklists and until our detainees are released, talks will yield no results," it said.

The statement comes as direct face-to-face talks between the militant group and the Kabul government were expected to start in Islamabad this week.

"We unequivocally state that the esteemed leader of Islamic Emirate (Taliban) has not authorised anyone to participate in this meeting and neither has the Leadership Council of Islamic Emirate decided to partake in it," the statement added.

The announcement is a blow to efforts by Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States to restart negotiations aimed at ending the Taliban's long and bloody insurgency in Afghanistan.

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