Afghanistan said on Tuesday the Taliban would have to be defeated on the battlefield after US President Donald Trump rejected the idea of talks with the militants following a series of deadly attacks. The Taliban said the attacks were a message to Trump that his policy of aggression would not work. Another Taliban member said the United States had been approaching states that have relations with the Taliban to try to get them to push the insurgents to the negotiating table. “President Trump is saying this for public consumption,” the ‎Taliban member, who declined to be identified, said of Trump’s rejection of talks. Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment on Trump’s rejection of talks with the Taliban.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 30, 2018 09:56 UTC