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Pompeo says violence levels in Afghanistan 'unacceptably high'

04 December 2020 21:53 (UTC +04:00)

Violence in Afghanistan is “unacceptably high” as delayed peace negotiations get underway, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, adding that Washington has asked the warring parties to “stand back and indeed stand down,” APA reports quoting Reuters

Pompeo’s comments, made in a virtual address to the IISS Manama Dialogue, an annual security conference, came two days after Kabul-backed and Taliban negotiators reached a deal in Doha to proceed with talks on a political settlement to decades of strife.

The negotiations were to have begun on March 10 under an U.S.-Taliban accord for a U.S. troop withdrawal. But they were delayed by disputes mainly over prisoner releases and the rules and procedure for the talks amid surging violence.

Pompeo noted that he met with the negotiating teams during a Nov. 21 visit to Doha and he said he told both sides that the strife must be reduced.