DAYS AFTER PEACE DEAL, US LAUNCHES AIR STRIKE ON TALIBAN

NEW DELHI/ KABUL : The US on Wednesday carried out its first airstrike on Taliban fighters in Afghanistan since the two sides signed a troop withdrawal agreement on Saturday.

A US forces spokesman confirmed the incident in Helmand province, hours after President Donald Trump spoke by phone with chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Baradar on Tuesday.

The Taliban fighters “were actively attacking an Afghan national security forces checkpoint. This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack,” tweeted Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for the US Forces in Afghanistan. He said Washington was committed to peace but would defend Afghan forces if needed.

“The Taliban leadership promised the international community they would reduce violence and not increase attacks. We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments,” he said.

The airstrike was the first by the US against the Taliban in 11 days, when a reduction in violence agreement had begun between the sides in the lead up to Saturday’s pact.

The Taliban have carried out attacks on Afghan forces in at least five places across Afghanistan since they ended a partial truce, killing 16 soldiers in Kunduz province.

Photos released by the Taliban showed that US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad was present with the group’s leaders when they made the phone call to Trump from Doha in Qatar.

Baradar welcomed the first ever contact with Trump and asked him to take “determined actions” for the withdrawal of foreign forces. He also spoke of “establishing a government of our own choosing”.

“We had a good conversation,” Trump said of the call, believed to be the first direct communication between an American president and a senior official from the militant group since America’s longest war began 19 years ago. “We’ve agreed there’s no violence, we don’t want violence, we’ll see what happens, they’re dealing with Afghanistan.”