US Officials Claim Taliban Violated Peace Deal With Rocket Fire

Taliban denies firing any rockets

Adding to constant questions about the US peace deal in Afghanistan, unnamed US military officials are now claiming that the Taliban are believed to have fired rockets at a joint US-Afghan base, and if true this would violate the deal.

This gives the officials an opportunity to push some uncertainty, but doesn’t appear to be a serious matter. The rockets in question were fired last month, with little impact or reaction until the new comments.

The Taliban operating in the Helmand area also denied firing the rockets in the first place, though there was some suggestion that the fire may have been by a faction of former Taliban that is opposed to the peace deal and was trying to sabotage it.

It doesn’t seem like that’s going to sabotage the agreement, though clearly a handful of officials are similarly opposed to the deal and looking for an excuse. Though such frustration seems to keep adding to such reports, the drawdown from Afghanistan is moving forward anyhow.

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.