The Taliban on Tuesday threatened to stall peace talks with the United States if they deflect from the issue of foreign force withdrawal from Afghanistan, a key demand of the hardline Islamic militants to end the 17-year war. In a statement, the Taliban said America must pursue the peace talks with "sincere intentions" or it "will be forced to stall all talks and negotiations until America ends her unlawful pressures and manoeuvring and steps forward towards true peace."

The warning comes a day after Taliban fighters blew up a car-bomb outside a highly fortified compound killing at least five people and wounding more than 110 Afghans and expatriates in Kabul city. Last week senior leaders of the Taliban cancelled the fourth round of peace talks with Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan over an "agenda disagreement." Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Tuesday after meeting officials in India, the United Arab Emirates and China, the US Embassy in Kabul said. "

Copyright Reuters, 2019