KABUL (Dispatches) – Support for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) by the United States would constitute a breach of the 2020 Doha agreement between Washington and the Taliban, the movement’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Tuesday.
In an interview with the Afghan 1TV News broadcaster, Mujahid stated that if the U.S. supports the Afghan resistance, the deal would become null and void.
The United States and the Taliban signed the agreement in February 2020 in the Qatari capital. Among other things, the deal stipulated the withdrawal of foreign armed forces from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban abating violence and guaranteeing that the country will not turn into a safe haven for terrorists.
On August 15, 2021, as foreign troops were withdrawing, the Taliban took over Afghanistan by entering Kabul, which led to the collapse of the U.S.-backed government. The last province to resist the group, Panjshir, surrendered on September 6, with NRF leader Ahmad Massoud calling on all Afghans to rebel against the Taliban.
Meanwhile, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the interim Afghan foreign minister, will visit Pakistan on Wednesday for the first time since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan, and will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart on a wide range of issues, according to officials on both sides.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Kabul Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement that a senior-level delegation led by Muttaqi will travel to Pakistan on Nov 10.
“(The) delegation will discuss enhancing ties, economy, transit, refugees & expanding facilities for the movement of people, & will include ministers and working groups from Finance and Trade Ministries,” Balkhi tweeted.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman in Pakistan told reporters in the capital Islamabad that Muttaqi will discuss a string of issues with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, including bilateral relationships, visas to Afghan nationals, and cross-border movement.