AfghanistanAsia-PacificEuropeWorld News

Britain calls for talks with Taliban

Britain’s army chief has called for talks with the Taliban, as part of the exit strategy for US-led forces in Afghanistan, adding that talks should begin “pretty soon.”

General David Richards made the remark in an interview with BBC Radio on Sunday.

“If you look at any counter-insurgency campaign throughout history there’s always a point at which you start to negotiate with each other, probably through proxies in the first instance, and I don’t know when that will happen,” he said.

“But at the same time you’ve got to continue the work we’re doing on the military, governance and development perspectives to make sure they don’t think we’re giving up. It’s a concurrent process and they’re both equally important,” Richards added.

The comments by the British army chief come as NATO forces are experiencing some of their bloodiest days in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country.

NATO’s more than 80 fatalities in June has made it the deadliest month since the US-led invasion back in 2001. The number of UK service personnel killed as a result of the Afghanistan conflict since 2001 has hit 300.

Leave a Reply

Back to top button