Recent IS Attacks Show Group Opposes Peace Between Afghan Gov't, Taliban - Khalilzad

Recent IS Attacks Show Group Opposes Peace Between Afghan Gov't, Taliban - Khalilzad

US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad on Friday said that by conducting recent terror attacks in Afghanistan, the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) is showing its opposition to the peace process between Afghanistan and the Taliban group

KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2020) US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad on Friday said that by conducting recent terror attacks in Afghanistan, the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) is showing its opposition to the peace process between Afghanistan and the Taliban group.

On Wednesday, Afghanistan was rocked by attacks on a maternity ward in Kabul, as well as a funeral in the eastern province of Nangarhar, resulting in multiple casualties.

"The USG [United States Government] has assessed ISIS-K conducted the horrific attacks on a maternity ward and a funeral earlier this week in Afghanistan. ISIS has demonstrated a pattern for favoring these types of heinous attacks against civilians and is a threat to the Afghan people and to the world," Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.

He also urged the Afghans to come together against the threat of ISIS and move forward with the peace negotiations.

"ISIS-K also opposes a peace agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban, and seeks to encourage sectarian war as in Iraq and Syria," the special representative added.

On February 29, the US and the Taliban signed a peace deal in the Qatari capital of Doha, according to which intra-Afghan negotiations were scheduled to begin on March 10. The talks, however, have been undermined by differences between Kabul and the Taliban.