Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. “extends its best wishes to the people of Afghanistan in celebration of Eid al-Fitr,” and backs the temporary cease-fire with the Taliban that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called for earlier this month.
“We support President Ghani’s offer to extend the ceasefire and begin peace talks,” Pompeo said in a statement Saturday. “As President Ghani emphasized in his statement to the Afghan people, peace talks by necessity would include a discussion of the role of international actors and forces. The United States is prepared to support, facilitate, and participate in these discussions.”
Pompeo then said that all of “Afghanistan’s people benefit from the end of bloodshed” and that “if Afghans can pray together, their leaders can talk together and resolve their differences.”
“Agreeing to begin peace talks is an expression of determination to create a unified Afghanistan in which all its citizens can live in peace and dignity,” he added. “The United States stands ready to work with the Afghan government, the Taliban, and all the people of Afghanistan to reach a peace agreement and political settlement that brings a permanent end to this war.”
After Ghani’s calls for a ceasefire, the U.S. military said it would respect the request, but that counterterrorism operations against groups like the Islamic State would continue.
“We will adhere to the wishes of Afghanistan for the country to enjoy a peaceful end to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, and support the search for an end to the conflict,” Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in charge of the NATO Resolute Support mission, said earlier this month.
Ghani extended a peace offering in late February to hold talks with the Taliban free of preconditions, but the Taliban has not yet responded.
