WASHINGTON: The United States welcomed the release on Tuesday of two US and Australian men held by the Afghan Taliban and said the gesture, a recent decline in violence, and other developments gave it hope that intra-Afghan peace talks could succeed.
“The Taliban have indicated that the release of the two professors is intended as a goodwill gesture, which the United States welcomes,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement about the release of US citizen Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, who was kidnapped in August 2016.
“We see these developments as hopeful signs that the Afghan war, a terrible and costly conflict that has lasted 40 years, may soon conclude through a political settlement.”
