The Taliban attacked Kandahar air base Wednesday, where several hundred U.S. troops are based, but the Department of Defense refused to call the attack a violation of the Doha peace agreement and downplayed it amid diplomatic talks.
The United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in February 2020 that required the group waging war on the Afghan government to refrain from striking U.S. and coalition troops. In the intervening 13 months, the Taliban have largely avoided directly targeting American troops, and there have been no U.S. casualties, but their campaign of violence has escalated.
With a backdrop of a deteriorating security situation in the country, the U.S. is just three weeks away from a deadline to withdraw fully from the country — something President Joe Biden has said would be “hard to meet.”
“We condemn today’s attack on Kandahar airfield, home to several hundred U.S. and coalition personnel,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday at a press briefing.
“While the attack resulted in no casualties or damage, the Taliban’s decision to provoke even more violence in Afghanistan remains disruptive to the opportunity for peace presented by ongoing negotiations,” he added.
BIDEN SIGNALS REMOVAL OF US TROOPS FROM AFGHANISTAN BY NEXT YEAR BUT WILL MISS TRUMP’S MAY 1 GOAL
A U.S. forces-Afghanistan spokesman said the airfield is under control of the Afghan government, but U.S. and coalition troops are still present.
“The rockets landed outside the perimeter and there was no damage [and] no casualties,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Kirby, however, would not directly answer a question by the Washington Examiner on whether the attack constituted a violation of the U.S. agreement with the Taliban.
“I’m not prepared to give you an assessment right now, one way or the other, as to how this suits with the agreement,” he said.
“Clearly, the violence is too high,” he said of the situation in Afghanistan. “Clearly, this attack certainly indicates that’s going to be disruptive to the opportunity to achieve a peaceful negotiation, but I’m not prepared today to give an assessment of this attack as balance against the Doha agreement.”
The U.S. has tolerated escalating violence in Afghanistan for months, and the congressionally mandated special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction has said the Afghan government may not last without continued U.S. protection, putting at risk the blood and treasure of two decades of U.S. involvement in the country.
More than 2,300 Americans have lost their lives in Afghanistan, and tens of thousands more have suffered injuries.
Yet, the Taliban have still not broken with al Qaeda, and the principal objective of preventing Afghanistan from serving as a terrorist safe haven would fail if the group was allowed to return.
Former President Donald Trump drew down American forces to 2,500 troops to help root out the remnants of al Qaeda terrorists. Separately, NATO has more than 5,000 troops on an advise and assist mission to Afghan security forces. Both partners would leave if the Doha agreement was kept, but Biden and the Pentagon have admitted that pulling out by the deadline would be logistically challenging.
Still, the Pentagon says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is continuing discussions with NATO partners on a way forward as diplomatic efforts continue to encourage the Taliban and Afghan government to reach a peace accord.
Recent peace negotiations in Moscow yielded little results, and further talks in Istanbul are planned for late April or early May.
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In his only press conference on March 25, Biden hinted that U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan but likely would be removed before 2022.
“We will leave,” he said at the time. “The question is when we leave.”
