US President Donald Trump invited his Afghanistan counterpart Ashraf Ghani to visit the US which was accepted by the latter, according to the statement of the Afghan Presidential Palace on Friday.
On Thursday, Trump spoke to President Ghani over the phone in the United Arab Emirates where Ghani was on his official visit.
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Taking to Twitter, the Palace spokesman tweeted that President Ghani briefed Trump about his “seven-point peace plan” for the Afghan government, and US President emphasized the need for a ceasefire as a precondition for peace.
“During the talks, the US president expressed gratitude to Afghan President Ghani over his cooperation in releasing two professors of American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) and also praised Afghan security forces in defeating the Islamic State group’s fighters in the eastern Nangarhar province,” the statement further said.
In August, peace talks between Washington and the Taliban had to reach a deal on the withdrawal of thousands of American troops collapsed after President Trump cited an attack that killed a US soldier as his reason for pulling out of negotiations. The talks did not include the Afghan government.
The Taliban had never agreed to end their violent campaign against Afghan and foreign forces while negotiations were taking place. Sixteen US troops have been killed this year.
In 2001, US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan because the militants had given safe haven to the Al-Qaeda network to plan the attacks on the US on September 11.