Taliban Leader Denies Secret Deals in Peace Pact, Won’t Accept US Delaying Pullout

Taliban would make 'decisions' if US stalled

Taliban deputy leader Mullah Baradar gave an interview over the weekend warning against the US trying to stall the troop pullout from Afghanistan, saying the Taliban would make “decisions” on a response if that happened.

There is no sign that this is going to happen. Rather, Baradar seems to want to emphasize that there was no “secret annex” to the deal allowing the US to keep troops, something often rumored.

The US is well ahead of schedule on the pullout, and could be finished by November. Baradar also talked up intra-Afghan talks, saying that they want a complete prisoner release finished.

The Afghan government has released almost all of the 5,000 prisoners promised, and while it is way behind schedule, the two sides could be in internal power-sharing talks soon with what’s been accomplished.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.