Defeated foreigners must leave Afghanistan, fratricide must end: Zarif

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says foreign troops, who have failed in achieving their purported goal of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, must leave South Asian country so that fratricide would end there.

According to Press TV, Zarif made the remarks in a post on his official Twitter account on Sunday in reaction to ongoing developments in Afghanistan and after the US President Donald Trump claimed that he had ended peace talks with the group over their role in a recent bombing near the US embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Trump revealed in a Twitter post on Saturday that he had planned a secret meeting with the Taliban’s “major leaders” on Sunday at a presidential resort compound in Camp David, Maryland.

“Gravely concerned about Afghanistan: Defeated foreigners must leave and fratricide must end,” Zarif said in his tweet.

He emphasized that if the foreign military presence continued in Afghanistan, it could provide foreigners with an opportunity to “exploit the situation, bringing renewed bloodshed.”

Iran's top diplomat added that Iran is “prepared to work with Afghan government and parties—as well as neighbors—to forge lasting end to violence.”

Zarif's remarks came after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said earlier on Sunday that real peace could be only possible if Taliban militants agreed to a ceasefire and to direct talks with the Kabul government.

SS