Afghanistan suspends talks over security deal with US

Afghanistan has suspended talks with the US regarding a strategic agreement, the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) over Washington’s ‘contradictory approach.’

“The president suspended the BSA talks with the US this morning,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman Amal Faizi said on Wednesday.

Under the strategic agreement, US-led soldiers would be allowed to remain in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 withdrawal deadline.

“There is a contradiction between what the US government says and what it does regarding Afghanistan peace talks,” the Afghan spokesman added.

This comes after reports of direct talks between US officials and the Taliban militants.

Faizi also said that the Afghan president has criticized the name given to the Taliban’s political office in the Qatari capital of Doha. The spokesman said that Karzai was not happy that “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” was chosen as the office’s name, because “such a thing doesn’t exist.”

On June 18, Taliban militants said they would hold talks with the US in order to find a political solution to the decade-long war in Afghanistan.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 11 years, insecurity remains across the country.

The increasing number of military casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few months, with Afghans growing increasingly outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.