‘Afghan will be graveyard for US’

KABUL: The Taliban warned that Afghanistan would become “a graveyard” for the United States Tuesday after Donald Trump cleared the way for thousands more American troops to be sent to the war-torn country.

“If America doesn’ t withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, soon Afghanistan will become another graveyard for this super power in the 21st century,” Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

He added that America should think of an exit strategy “instead of continuing the war”.

A senior Taliban commander told AFP that Trump was just perpetuating the “arrogant behaviour” of previous presidents such as George W Bush.

“He is just wasting American soldiers. We know how to defend our country. It will not change anything. For generations we have fought this war, we are not scared, we are fresh and we will continue this war until our last breath,” he told AFP.

He added that the statement proved the current Afghan government “is a US puppet”.

The insurgents signalled their intentions minutes after Trump spoke by claiming the US embassy in Kabul had been the target of a rocket attack on Monday. The rocket landed in a field in the city’s diplomatic quarter, with no casualties reported.