The final approval required from their leader, Maulvi Hibatullah Akhundzada, was never announced.Įarlier Saturday, both NATO and Afghan officials had confirmed a roadside bomb hit a US army vehicle, without mentioning casualties. The Taliban leadership decided at the end of December to support a temporary cease-fire to allow for a peace deal to be signed, but they never said when it would go into effect. That agreement would also set out a road map for direct Afghan-to-Afghan talks, mapping out the country’s post-war future. That would give a window in which the US and the Taliban could forge an agreement to withdraw all of America’s troops. US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been pressing the insurgents to declare a cease-fire or at least reduce violent attacks. The latest attack seemed certain to stall fresh efforts to restart the on-again, off-again peace talks between Washington and the Taliban.

Last year was one of the deadliest for the United States, with 23 American troops killed, even as Washington engaged in peace talks with the Taliban. More than 2,400 US service members have been killed in Afghanistan. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, said it occurred in the southern Kandahar province.

Clash of kings attack troops