Jalil Afridi
Washington DC: One year has passed since the Doha Agreement was signed between the United States and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, in today’s briefing US State Department Spokesperson, Ned Price acknowledged that the agreement empowered the Taliban and it made the United States and its partners weaker in the region.
Ned Price stated that so far Taliban have not honored their commitments which they made in Doha Agreement and these commitments were not only made to the United States but to the rest of the world as well. Taliban were not suppose to host terrorists on their soil but Aiman Al Zawahri, the Al Qaeda leader was found there and was eliminated by the US, Ned Price added.
Taliban were also suppose to hold a dialogue process, where all political parties were expected to participate but Taliban have not held any such dialogue, Ned price commented and added that Taliban have shut down girls schools and colleges and have barred women from work. “We are waiting for girls schools to open this month” Ned Price commented. “No country can thrive when half of its population is arbitrarily held back” Ned further added.
When asked by The Frontier Post about the accountability of US spending in Afghanistan which President Biden had promised during his election campaign, Ned Price dodged the question and started talking about the future plans of the US. The Frontier Post again questioned about the recent report by SIGAR, highlighting huge corruption done by former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and former Afghan Ambassador to the US, Hamdullah Mohib. The Frontier Post asked that both Ashraf Ghani and Mohib are US citizens and if the US government will ever dig into their their assets outside the United States. Ned Price replied by saying that different departments of the US government hold inquiries regularly and that “we are looking into these reports and working with allies to substantiate these reports and will of course seek accountability as you would expect.”.
While referring to the Pakistani Supreme Court decision regarding elections, The Frontier Post asked whether US State Department holds any grudge against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Ned Price stated that US always supports democratic process and it is the decision of the people of Pakistan who they elect. The US works with countries and not individuals, Ned Price added.
