Kabul - New US President Donald Trump should review US policy
towards Afghanistan and not follow in the footsteps of his
predecessors, Barack Obama and George Bush, said the Taliban in a
statement late Saturday.
The Taliban statement said US and its NATO allies have failed and if
the aggression continues, "It will not be far when American troops
will face more deaths under his [Trump's] authority."
Donald Trump, the 45th US president, was sworn in on Friday and spoke
to US troops in Bagram airfield - the biggest US base in Afghanistan
- via video message announcing his support. The new administration's
policy towards Afghanistan is not clear yet.
"In the past 16 years, millions of dollars were wasted, tens of
thousands of soldiers were killed and wounded and no method was left
to test, while not only the US but its NATO allies tried with all
their power," read the Taliban statement.
The US has around 10 000 troops stationed in Afghanistan involved
with the NATO Train Advise & Assist (TAA) mission, which has been
active since the end of NATO's combat mission in the war-torn country
in 2014.
Afghan forces are fighting an ever-resilient Taliban insurgency
throughout the country, even as Taliban forces gain more ground.
Afghanistan's chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, on Saturday
congratulated Trump on taking over and said he is certain that
cooperation between both countries will continue.