Taliban spokesperson rejects reports of agreeing for interim government with US

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has rejected the reports of agreeing with the United States for an interim government, he said in a tweet. Reports emerged earlier today suggesting that the US and Taliban have reached an agreement to establish an interim government.

As the talks between the Taliban and the US are going on in Doha, some media outlets reported that the US and Taliban representatives have agreed to establish an interim government for a 14-month long period.

The United States and the Taliban officials resumed talks in Qatar on Thursday to firm up a deal enabling the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in return for the Taliban security guarantees.

کوم خبر چې د موقت حکومت د هوکړې په هکله په رسنیو کې خپریږي ، حقیقت نلري.

— Suhail Shaheen (@suhailshaheen1) August 24, 2019

About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are now in Afghanistan as part of a US-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some US forces carry out counter-terrorism operations.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the US military role in Afghanistan has basically turned into a "ridiculous" police force in a sign that he is open to a US troop drawdown there after 18 years of war. Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US diplomat who has been leading the negotiations with the Taliban since last year is scheduled to travel to Kabul after his talks with the Taliban officials.