In a terse statement from his office, Karzai said negotiations with the US on what American and coalition security forces will remain in the country after 2014 have been put on hold.
The statement followed an announcement on Tuesday by the US and the Taliban that they would pursue bilateral talks in Qatar before the Afghan government was brought in.
‘In view of the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the peace process, the Afghan government suspended the negotiations, currently underway in Kabul between Afghan and US delegations on the bilateral security agreement,’ Karzai’s statement said. His spokesman was not immediately reachable for questions, and the US Embassy in Kabul said nobody was available for immediate comment.
Though the Taliban have dismissed Karzai as an American puppet for years, they indicated on Tuesday when opening a new political office in Doha, Qatar, that they would be willing to talk with the Afghan leader. But both the American side and the Taliban said they would first meet together before any talks with the Afghanistan government.
In another incident highlighting the fragile situation in Afghanistan, only hours after announcing they would hold talks with the US, the Taliban claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack on the Bagram Air Base in which four American troops were killed.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgents fired two rockets into the base outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, late on Tuesday. American officials confirmed the base had come under attack by indirect fire – likely a mortar or rocket – and that four US troops were killed.
Also on Tuesday, five Afghan police officers were killed at a security outpost in Helmand province by apparent Taliban infiltrators – the latest in a string of ‘insider attacks’ that have shaken the confidence of the nascent Afghan security forces.